Hellcats: Gold and Silver
by King of Eli
Summary: While investigating the disappearance of his little brother, Alfred F. Jones ends up joining the Hellcats, a ruthless group of immortal mutant lab-tested cat-shifters. Full plot and warnings inside. Contains yaoi/yuri, main pairing UsUk.
1. Prologue: He Plans His Escape

**_Senkō_**

**_Gōrudo to shirubā_**

_Hellcats_

_Gold and Silver_

A Hetalia fan-novel

**Plot: **While investigating the disappearance of his little brother, Alfred F. Jones ends up joining the Hellcats, a ruthless group of immortal mutant lab-tested cat-shifters led by Arthur Kirkland, a one-eyed, dangerous, unstable isotope of the cat word. As Alfred becomes accustomed to the ways of the Hellcats, however, he comes to realize that there's a lot more to them, and their one-eyed leader, than he thinks. Along the way, he becomes involved in a deadly fight with the very scientists who created the breed of cat that they all belong to, and discovers dangerous family secrets that never should have been revealed. Lots of OOC for a good reason. Takes place in the 21st century. Has references to other books and anime. Yaoi/yuri. Mainly UsUk (Joker), side Franada, GerIta, NiChu, RusPru, Spamano, HungaryLiech, Edelweiss, TurGree.

**THE CHARACTERS**

**SENKŌ (HELLCATS)**

**Leader: **_Arthur Kirkland, "Leader" or "Gold" or "One-eye"-_ a ruthless and dangerous killer, Arthur has led the Hellcats for fifteen years. Normally he wears a torn black shirt, jeans and a red bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears a gold collar. He has short blonde hair, one green eye, and pale skin. In his cat form he is a Eurasian Lynx with yellow fur and green eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar in this form as well. His partner is Alfred. He wears and eyepatch over his left eye in both forms. His main weapon is a P-90.

**The Second: **_Alfred F. Jones, "Silver"-_ a loyal, independent and sometimes hard-headed cat, Alfred joined the Hellcats by accident. He wears his bomber jacket and pants of any kind. He wears a green bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears a silver collar and glasses. He has short ash-blonde hair and sky blue eyes and pale skin. In his cat form he is a golden tabby American Shorthair with pale blue eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Arthur. His main weapon is a Daewoo USAS-12 automatic shotgun.

**Healer: **_Elizaveta Héderváry, "Scar"-_a mysterious yet dangerously sarcastic cat, Elizaveta is considered to be one of the most valuable members. She wears a brown jacket, blue shirt and jeans most of the time. She wears a brown bandanna to symbolize her status. She also wears a brown collar. She has long brown hair, green eyes and pale skin. She has a scar over her left eye. In her cat form she is a light brown and white she-cat with green eyes. She wears her bandanna and collar as well. Her partner is Lilli. Her main weapon is an AK-47.

**Healer's Apprentice: **_Lillian "Lilli" Zwingli, "Flower"-_an innocent-appearing, yet built-to-kill cat, Lilli is one of the youngest lab-cats, only having been tested on for two years before breaking out. She often wears brightly colored dresses, although in combat she wears camouflage fatigues. She wears a blue bandanna to symbolize her status. She also wears a blue collar. She has short blonde hair, green eyes and pale skin. She also wears a bow. In her cat form she is a golden and white Serval female with green eyes. She wears her bandanna and collar as well. Her partner is Elizaveta. Her main weapon is a SIG-Sauer P225 pistol.

**The Head Warrior: **_Vash Zwingli, "Gun"-_an aggressive, conservative and highly unemotional cat, Vash is Lilli's older brother. He often wears neutral colored clothes and mostly wears only t-shirts and jeans. He wears a gray bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears a gray collar. He has shoulder-length blonde hair, green eyes and pale skin. In his cat form he is a golden and white Serval tom with green eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Rodreich. He has many guns, the most out of everyone, but his favored weapon is a 7.5mm SIG Stgw. 57 assault rifle as used by the Swiss army.

**The Spy: **_Rodreich Edelstein, "Note"-_a no-nonsense, prestigious, yet elusive cat, Rodreich is the Spy for a reason. He may not appear intimidating, but he's actually very dangerous and good at what he does. He often wears dressy clothes, but will change when he's doing spy work. He wears a teal bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears a teal collar. He has short black hair that is normally slicked back, save for his Mariazell, violet eyes and pale skin. In his cat form he is a black and white Caracal with six-inch-long white ear tufts and violet eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Vash. His main weapon is a Steyr M-1A handgun.

**The Messenger: **_Sadiq Annan, "Runner"-_an often playful yet sly and cunning cat, Sadiq is the fastest of the cats but the least adapted to fighting and long combat. He is the most "fragile" of all of the cats, having bones only slightly stronger than a human's and the inability to fight for long periods of time due to the possibility of heart failure or lung collapse. He often wears hoodies and jeans. He wears a tan bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears a tan collar. He has short, semi-curly dark brown hair, brown eyes (that are often shadowed by the mask he wears), and slightly tanned skin. In his cat form he is a light brown Cheetah with brown eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Hercales. His main weapon is a Yavuz 16 Regard pistol.

**The Jinx: **_Hercales Karpusi, "Clover"-_a quiet, almost reserved yet cunning cat, Hercales is considered the "condemned" of the Hellcats due to the testing he received, basically making him a ticking time bomb. Supposedly he should have died four years ago due to a brain malfunction the scientists gave him, but since he didn't, he became known as "the Jinx" and uses his power to condemn enemies to death. He often wears simple t-shirts and jeans and neutral colors. He wears an orange bandanna to symbolize his status. He also wears an orange collar. He has shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes and pale skin. In his cat form he is a brown and white furred Aegean cat with green eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Sadiq. His main weapon is a Galil SAR 5.56mm assault rifle.

**The Soldiers**

_Kiku Honda, "Sword"-_a reserved and somewhat socially awkward cat, Kiku was tested on the longest in the Facility (ever since its creation, three hundred years). He is hard-wired for killing and gathering information, which can make him appear very smart yet socially awkward. He usually wears simple shirts and pants but changes depending on the environment he's in. He has short black hair, brown eyes and pale skin. He wears a white bandanna and white collar. In his cat form he is a black, orange and white mi-ke Japanese Bobtail with brown eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Yao. His main weapons are two Nambu Type 14 pistols; in close-combat he prefers his sword.

_Wang Yao, "Shield"-_a somewhat childish and playful cat, Yao seems unadapted to gang life, but he fits in quite well as Kiku's shield. He is the oldest out of all of the cats. He usually wears a tan-colored jacket and pants. He has long brown hair, brown eyes and pale skin. He wears a turquoise bandanna and a turquoise collar. In his cat form he is a brown tabby and white Dragon Li cat with brown eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Kiku. His main weapon is a QBU-88 sniper rifle, since his main position is a sniper.

_Gilbert Beilschmidt, "Dog"-_a semi-aggressive, doglike cat, Gilbert has been hardwired to guard and protect, giving him his nickname. He usually wears a black jacket with a white t-shirt and jeans. He has white hair, red eyes and pale skin. He wears a sky blue bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a pure white Snow Leopard with red eyes. He wears his collar and bandanna as well. His partner is Ivan. His main weapon is a Heckler-Koch SL-6 SL-7 rifle.

_Ivan Braginski, "Wolf"-_an intimidating, yet dependent cat, Ivan almost never leaves Gilbert's side due to his dependency on him. He is the biggest of all of the cats; most of them are lioness-sized, but he is full male tiger sized. He usually wears a long gray coat and pants. He has silver-gray hair, violet eyes and pale skin. He is the only cat who doesn't wear a bandanna, wearing a scarf instead, and he wears a light purple collar. In his cat form he is a silver and white Siberian Tiger with violet eyes. He wears his collar and scarf as well. His partner is Gilbert. His main weapon is a Saiga rifle.

_Francis Bonnefoy, "Joker"-_the con artist of the cat world, Francis is perfectly suited to life in the gang, unlike some of the others. He normally wears somewhat fancy clothes, but changes depending on the environment he's in. He has shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. He wears a beige colored bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a golden Chartreux with blue eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Matthew. His main weapon is a Chauchat C.S.R.G. Model 1915 light machine gun. Since it's not good for close-range (and not easy to carry), his other favored weapon is an Mle. 1935S.

_Matthew Williams, "Smile"-_an innocent-looking, yet inwardly insane and mentally unstable cat, Matthew's dark side of his personality didn't appear until after he joined the Hellcats. He has been known to kill only because he wants to. He normally wears a gray sweater and loose-fitting pants. He has short caramel blonde hair, dark blue eyes and pale skin. He wears a blue-gray colored bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a golden yellow and white American Shorthair with dark blue eyes. His partner is Francis. His main weapon is a Diemaco C8A1 carbine.

_Feliciano Vargas, "Wine"-_a skittish yet smart and somewhat dependent cat, Feliciano has dependency issues and is almost always with Ludwig, however this may not be because of dependency issues, but instead because of how strong their partnership is. He has no normal outfit; it changes depending on the situation he's in. He has short reddish-brown hair, caramel brown eyes and pale skin. He wears a charcoal colored bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a reddish-brown mix cat with caramel brown eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Ludwig. His main weapon is a Benelli Nova shotgun.

_Ludwig Beilschmidt, "Shotgun"-_nicknamed for his often explosive personality, Ludwig is the younger brother of Gilbert. He acts like both Feli and Gilbert's protectors and is very doglike like his brother, prone to protecting and guarding. He normally wears long-sleeved shirts and jeans, almost never changing his outfit no matter what situation he's in. He has short blonde hair that's usually slicked back, blue eyes and pale skin. He wears a dark spring green bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a golden furred German Rex cat with blue eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Feliciano. His main weapon is an HK CAWS shotgun.

_Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, "Sail"-_nicknamed for his love of water and sailing, Antonio is almost the exact opposite of Lovino. He is quite carefree, but he can change very quickly if the situation turns dangerous. He normally wears casual type clothing, but he doesn't mind a change in outfit. He has short, semi-curly brown hair, green eyes and slightly tanned skin. He wears a dark lavender bandanna and collar. In his cat form he is a brown furred Spanish mix with green eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Lovino. His main weapons are two Star model P handguns.

_Lovino Vargas, "Stone"-_nicknamed for his almost stone-cold personality, Lovino is Feliciano's older brother and the exact opposite of Antonio. He is almost paranoid and can be easily frightened. He is quick to attack without question or provocation. He normally wears a trench jacket and loose-fitting pants. He also wears a bright yellow bandanna and collar. He has short reddish-brown hair (darker than Feliciano's), dark amber-brown eyes and pale skin. In his cat form he is a reddish-brown furred mix with amber-brown eyes. He wears his bandanna and collar as well. His partner is Antonio. His main weapon is an M-16 that he carries with pride.

**THE FACILITY'S WORKERS**

**ANTAGONISTS**

**Leader: **_Attilo Jones-_a deceitful and snappy scientist with light cinnamon brown hair, dark green eyes and pale skin. He has ADHD and OCD and often spurts out with bouts of nearly unprovoked anger. Brother of Victor Jones. Known as "The Slave Master" due to how he treats his experiments.

**Backup: **_Victor Jones-_a sly and conceited scientist with brunette hair, dark green eyes, and pale skin. He is able to keep his cool in dangerous situations, unlike Attilo, and counters his sometimes hyperactive behavior. Brother of Attilo Jones. Known as "The Destroyer" due to his scorched-earth policy when it comes to fighting.

**Head Scientist: **_Ivory Jones-_one of the kinder scientists with dusky brown hair, blue green eyes and pale skin. Despite his promise to the Facility, he tries his best to get out and get all of the test animals out as well. He is not related to either Victor nor Attilo. Known as "The Nice Guy" due to his kind personality.

**OTHER GROUPS**

**The Dog-Shifter Army:** an army of dog-shifters used by the Facility to counter the cat-shifters. Secretly, Attilo and Jones belong to this group.

**The Loyals: **a group of cat-shifters that are loyal to the Facility. They, like the army are used to counter the cat-shifters.

**Prologue**

**He Plans His Escape**

_I don't know how long I've been here._

Machines beeped all around him.

_I'm not sure I even know where I am anymore._

He heard the scientists speak, and his ears twitched.

_I only know one thing._

As his shoulders began to shift, he heard them gasp.

_I need to get out._

The cat opened his blood-red eye and snarled dangerously as the group of scientists around him started to scream.

_I need to get out now._


	2. He's Already In Hell

**Chapter one**

**The Collar Around His Neck Says That He's Already In Hell**

_Two months._ It had been two months since he'd seen his little brother last, and Alfred F. Jones was starting to worry. The younger cat-shifter had walked out of the door without a care, not even bothering to tell him or Raven where he was going, or what he was looking for. He'd just left, and Alfred had let him, thinking that he just needed some time for his own business, but it had been two months and he still hadn't returned. It was now that Alfred decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I'm going out," he announced to his foster mother one night. It was late and the streets were dark, but it didn't matter. He'd be able to see even without the streetlights.

"Where are you going?" Raven asked, looking up from where she'd been in the kitchen, finishing up the dishes from that night. Her dark blue eyes looked after him with worry, and Alfred's ears twitched.

"I'm going to see if I can find Mattie," he replied, slipping on his jacket. Raven frowned at his words and narrowed her eyes.

"He's been gone for two months now, Al. He's probably long gone out of this city by now." Her statement fell on deaf ears, however, as Alfred opened the door.

"I'll be back," was his only response to her words, and Raven's frown deepened as he stepped out.

"Be careful," she called as he shut the door. She could only hope that he heard her.

Any normal person knew that the city was dangerous at night. Criminals wandered the streets, waiting for some innocent passerby they could jump. Drunken men stumbled around in a stupor, a danger to themselves and anyone around them. Even worse were the midnight drivers, who often hit animals, sometimes people, without even caring. Alfred, however, had nothing to worry about. He wasn't a normal person; he was a shifter, a mutant cat-shifter at that. Normal people wouldn't mess with him once they noticed his ears and tail.

However, that wouldn't help him if the person attacking him was another shifter.

After trotting around in the streets for some time, a certain noise was starting to catch Alfred's attention. He had a feeling that he was being followed, and the footsteps that sounded behind him didn't help to ease his anxiety. Eventually, he hesitated and turned around, and that gave his pursuer just enough time to let out a fearsome yowl and attack. The blonde let out a stunned yelp as he was pushed to the ground and forced down by his aggressor. For a moment he struggled fearfully, not sure what to do, before he forced his knees up into the other's chest, throwing the smaller shifter off of him. Blood trickled from his shoulder from where the attacker had gripped him with his razor sharp claws. Staggering to his feet, Alfred shook his head, pushing his glasses up onto his face so he could focus better on the blur that was his attacker.

The second cat finally got to his feet, coughing and shaking his head. A few droplets of blood were splattered on his chest, and after noticing the line of blood leading from the second's mouth down to his chin, Alfred's eyes widened. He had no idea that he'd hit him so hard. After the second caught sight of him, he lowered his head and let an animalistic growl sound from his throat. Just as Alfred was readying himself to fight again, the second's head turned as a voice called;

"Vash!" A black-haired shifter suddenly came into view, running up to the second blonde. "What's going on here?" Now noticing that there were _two_ cats and that he was outnumbered, Alfred began to back down. He wasn't sure if the black-haired one was planning on fighting him or not.

"Nothing, just taking care of a little street kitten, that's all," Vash replied, narrowing his eyes in Alfred's direction. Alfred let out a dissatisfied growl, but showed no other signs of agitation.

"He doesn't look like he's causing any harm," the black-haired shifter stated. "Maybe you should just leave him alone..."

"Or maybe not." a new voice called, and Alfred's head whipped around to pinpoint the source of the noise. The voice was familiar, and after Alfred caught sight of the person who'd said it, he immediately knew why.

"Mattie?" he asked as the shifter came into view. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello there, Al," the smaller cat greeted, walking up to his older brother. "Long time, no see. Where've you been?"

"I could ask you the same question," Alfred muttered. It was then that he noticed the bandanna and the collar around Matthew's neck, and then, after glancing over at the other two cats, noticed the same accessories. "And why are you wearing those?"

"These," the younger started to say, motioning to his bandanna and collar, "are my marks of acceptance into the Hellcats."

"The Hellcats?" Alfred raised a dubious eyebrow. "I think I've heard of them before. Why would you of all people join a _gang_ though?"

"I had my...reasons," the cat stated, running a hand through his caramel blonde hair. "Life at home was starting to get boring. I heard these guys were accepting members, so I decided to join." looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes, a grin spread across his face. "You know, you might be able to join too. That is, if the Leader likes you." suddenly his facial expression changed from amused to slightly frightened as he lifted his head. "Speak of the devil, there he is." All three of the cat's heads turned as a shadowy figure quickly made its way down the dimly lit street, and then simultaneously they all dropped to their knees in front of the authoritive figure. Even though he didn't know what was going on, Alfred did the same, dropping to his knees beside his brother. Eventually, they could finally see the figure.

Standing before him was a short blonde haired cat-shifter, golden ears held high and pricked. He wore a torn black t-shirt and jeans, a red bandanna around his neck. A gold collar also sat around his neck, only barely visible behind the bandanna. His black knee-high boots reflected what little light there was, and his lone green eye shone in the darkness.

"You," he addressed Alfred. The bigger cat looked up, ears twitching. "Stand up, street kitten." making his way to his feet, Alfred looked down at the smaller blonde, who flicked his ears back and grinned. "You must be Matthew's older brother."

"How did you know?" Alfred asked, voice curious but showing no other signs of emotion.

"He talks about you all the time," the smaller cat replied, starting to pace in circles around Alfred. "And you fit the description pretty well." he finally stopped in front of him again, one green eye halfway narrowed. "I didn't hear all of the conversation the four of you had, but I heard the last of it. You never gave Matthew a response to his last statement."

At first, Alfred wasn't sure about what he was talking about, before his eyes widened. "You...you heard that?"

"Of course I did. So, what do you think? Think you've got the guts to join?" The smaller continued his pacing, and Alfred's tail twitched.

"Maybe. Think I could do a trial run?" Alfred asked, and the smaller's grin widened.

"Of course," he purred, stopping and looking over at the other three. "Vash, Rodreich, Matthew, you three go back home and prepare everything for our visitor." he turned back to Alfred. "You can come back with me. What's your name, street kitten?"

"Alfred," he replied, pinning his ears back. "And you?"

"My name is Arthur Kirkland," the blonde grinned, green eye flashing almost evilly. "Welcome to hell."


	3. He Seems Determined To Drag Him To Hell

**Chapter Two**

**He Seems Determined To Drag Him To Hell**

For a while the two walked, and since Vash, Rodreich and Matthew had left long before they had, they walked alone. Most of the walk was silent, with neither of them talking much. The silence was almost awkward, and Alfred was starting to get irritated. Eventually, they came to a large building. Without even bothering to knock, Arthur opened the door and stepped in. Cautiously, Alfred followed him, looking around inside. "Is this your headquarters?"

"No," Arthur replied. "This is a cover-up for our real headquarters." The inside of the building wasn't very show, but it wasn't shabby either. It was perfect for its purpose. Alfred followed Arthur into a back room, where a small brown trapdoor sat. The smaller blonde opened it and started to walk down the stairs it revealed, before turning back to look at Alfred.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked, one green eye half-narrowed in curiosity. "Or are you getting too scared to follow?"

Frowning, the bigger cat started to follow him down. "I'm not scared," he replied. "Just cautious." Both of them fell silent as they walked down the stairwell, and eventually it became pitch black. Alfred held one hand out to touch the wall and steady himself and made sure that he could still feel Arthur's presence. Eventually, light began to creep into the bleak tunnel, and Alfred's ears perked up. He could hear people talking; the amount of people was unknown, but as they travelled closer, he could tell that it would be a lot. Eventually, they came to another door at the end of the stairs, and Arthur pushed it open.

Alfred was not prepared for the sight in front of him. The door led to something that looked like the center of a city, with a water fountain and everything. There weren't any cars, but there were buildings. He didn't see any structures that looked like houses, but that was possibly because the houses were farther away from the city. Roaming around the city were shifters, many of them. Their faces were strange and unfamiliar, and Alfred's ears flicked back and his tail quickly went between his legs. The scents were even stranger and less familiar. However, the thing that startled him most were the cats.

Hundreds of hundreds of cats swarmed around the whole place, rubbing up against the legs of the shifters, some running away, some hiding. These were _cats,_ regular sized _cats._ Well, most of them were, anyway. He noticed a few big cats that he instinctively knew weren't shifters, due to their smell. Noticing his fearful position, Arthur nudged him.

"Don't do that," he told him. "The others will pick up on your fear and use it against you." Taking his word, Alfred straightened his posture and picked up his ears and uncurled his tail. As soon as he'd done that, Arthur continued on into the underground city, and Alfred had no choice but to follow him. He had no idea what was going on or where he was going, but Arthur seemed to understand, so his best bet was to stick around him for a while.

"So, uh, where are we going?" Alfred finally asked, trotting up to walk beside the smaller cat. He regarded his words with a flick of his ear, before turning to look at him.

"I'm going to let you meet a few of the higher-ranking cats," Arthur replied. "It's important that you know them right away. Eventually, you'll be able to remember them by not only their name and description, but also their own individual scent as well. I'll let you meet the Healer and her apprentice, the Head Warrior, the Spy, the Messenger, and the Jinx."

Alfred was silent for a few seconds after Arthur had spoken, before saying, "I didn't hear the name of anyone who sounded like they were in some kind of second-in-command position. Don't you have someone to back you up, or someone to take your place if you decide to step down?" For a moment, Arthur was silent, before sighing.

"I _had_ someone like that, up until recently," he replied. "Her name was Rikki, and she'd been with us ever since we first broke out of the testing laboratory where we were born. She was one of the originals who helped us plan to escape."

"Wait, you were born in a testing laboratory?" Alfred asked, eyebrows half-raised in question. "But...but how? If we're both of the same kind of shifter, then...how..."

"You and your brother must be second generations," Arthur replied. "If you have no memory of a laboratory, then that's the only explanation. You are, aren't you?"

"Well...I guess so," Alfred sighed heavily. "To be honest, neither one of us knows much of our past. It's like my memories were wiped before a certain age..." After he'd finished speaking, he looked up and noticed they were standing in front of a house like structure. Above it hung a sign reading "The Healer's Den," and directly below it was a sign that read "Open."

"This is the home and office of the Healer and her apprentice," Arthur told him. "I'm warning you, our Healer can be a bit...nasty, sometimes, in temperament, but don't mind her. She won't bother trying to actually kill you unless I tell her too." Alfred didn't bother to tell him that what he'd said didn't help ease his anxiety at all.

Walking up to the door, Arthur knocked a few times and waited, before a little blonde girl wearing a soft pink dress and a bow in her hair opened the door and looked up at him, smiling.

"Hello, sir," she greeted. "What brings you here today?"

"Introducing a new member," he replied, before motioning for Alfred to come and stand beside him. "Alfred, this is Lillian Zwingli, or just Lilli, nicknamed Flower. She's the Healer's Apprentice."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Lilli greeted, dipping her head in respect for the older cat. Alfred had seen kittens do that before when greeting an older cat, but it had never happened to him. Unsure of how to react, the cat just twitched his tail and a half-smile crept its way across his face.

"It's nice to meet you too, Lilli," Alfred told her. After he'd finished greeting the younger cat, Arthur made his way into the building, motioning with a flick of his tufted ear to signal Alfred to come in. Cautiously, the bigger cat followed him in, curling his lip at the scent of herbs and flowers. It's not that he didn't enjoy the scent; it was just that since there were so many of them in one place, they were clogging up his nose, and he didn't enjoy that.

Eventually, they came across a lump of brown and white tabby fur lying on a table. The lioness-sized Ocelot, at the sound of the two entering the room, rolled onto her back and looked at them with frightening green eyes, before getting to her paws and jumping off of the table.

"And who," she growled at Alfred, "might you be?"

"A-Alfred," he stuttered, freezing in her venomous glare. "Alfred F. Jones."

"He's Matthew's older brother," Arthur told her, and the cat seemed to unstiffen just a little bit.

"Matthew's older brother, eh?" At this point she decided to turn back into her human form and looked over at Alfred with disdain. "Humph. I sure hope he changes like Mattie did when he got here. Boy, did he make an improvement..." Alfred didn't react at all to her words, just lowered his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "Anyway, I guess it's best not to be too rude to this newcomer. My name is Elizaveta Héderváry, but you can call me Scar." Alfred noticed why her nickname was scar; a jagged white line cut its way across her left eye, and he shivered, wondering what could have given her such a mark.

"Every shifter in the Hellcats gets a nickname," Arthur murmured to the bigger cat. "You'll get one too, at your Naming Ceremony. It will also be like your initiation into the group."

"He'll be lucky if he survives it," Elizaveta huffed, rolling her eyes. "He's kinda puny and skinny. He doesn't stand a chance if someone decided to attack him."

"Maybe someone won't," Arthur growled warningly, and Elizaveta just chuckled. Something about her told Alfred that they wouldn't be getting along.

After they'd left the Healer's Den, it was apparently, from what Arthur had told Alfred, time to meet the Head Warrior. When they arrived at his "workspace", as Arthur put it, Alfred wasn't prepared for who he met there.

"It's you," he said breathlessly as he saw the blonde cat. "The cat I fought today."

"What are you doing here?" Vash growled, tail twitching angrily. His lips were already curled back in a snarl, but he let them fall when he noticed Arthur's glare.

"Good to see that you already know each other," Arthur muttered. "This is Vash Zwingli, Lilli's older brother. His nickname is Gun." Alfred could see why. All around this workspace of his were guns, all types of them. Machine guns, pistols, assault rifles, you name it, he had it. Alfred swore he could see a grenade launcher hiding under a sheet.

"I can introduce myself you know," Vash hissed at Arthur, before turning to Alfred. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Alfred," he replied, tail twitching uneasily. "Matthew's older brother."

"I was wondering why he was treating you so nicely," Vash muttered, before sighing heavily. "Well, kid, I'm sure you've already heard this before but, welcome to hell."

After their meeting with Vash, they were on to the next cat, the Spy. Unlike the others, this cat didn't have his own workspace or headquarters of any kind. Alfred had a good idea why, but he didn't bother to say anything until they'd finally met him. Once they did, he was in for another surprise.

"Rodreich," Arthur hissed at the same black-haired cat he'd met earlier that night. "Hey, Rodreich. Come here for a second." Turning, the cat trotted up to Arthur and Alfred and huffed, obviously unimpressed.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at the two cats before him. His violet eyes glared deeply into Alfred's sky blue ones, and, uncomfortably, Alfred looked away. It was then that he noticed the cat's truly impressive ears; six inch long ear tufts sprouted from the tips, and they were pure white, sticking out against the blackness of his fur and hair. He'd never seen tufts so long before.

"This is our Spy, Rodreich Edelstein, nicknamed Note," Arthur told him. "He doesn't have his own headquarters for his protection."

"It would be stupid to have a headquarters for a spy," Rodreich cut in. "If, for some reason, we were infiltrated, it would be like a beacon for them to take all of our information and figure out what we knew about them."

"I see." Noticing Rodreich's questioning stare, Alfred's ears twitched. "Oh, uh, my name's Alfred. I'm Matthew's older brother." Now he'd seen that what he'd just said was obviously the right way to introduce himself, seeing how Rodreich's eyes lit up. His brother seemed to be very well known.

"Matthew's older brother? Well, I welcome you here, so long as you don't get in my way." With a quick nod, the cat turned, and just like that he was gone.

Moving on, they were now going to meet the Messenger. Only one more cat they had to meet, and then Arthur had agreed to go on with the Naming Ceremony.

"It might take some searching to find this one," Arthur told Alfred. "He's never in one place for very long—" the blonde looked like he was going to say something more, but he stopped as a lean figure wove itself between his legs. Both of them looked down and noticed the brown-furred cheetah that was so lovingly rubbing himself against Arthur's legs, and the blonde grinned and stroked the cat's head, careful to avoid the cat's mask. "Hey, quit that and introduce yourself." He sounded like he was scolding him, but the half-smile on his face told Alfred everything he needed to know. The cat chirped before removing himself from Arthur's legs and sitting a few feet away from them, before finally turning into his human form.

"Good evening to you," the shifter yawned, stretching his legs. "It's a good thing you caught me when you did. I've been running around all day." Noticing Arthur's dissatisfied look, the cat let out a nervous chuckle. "And by all day I mean...a few hours."

"Of course," Arthur sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Alfred, this is Sadiq Annan, nicknamed Runner. He's our messenger for a reason, out of all of us he's the fastest and best suited for the job."

"Nice to meet you," Alfred greeted the cat. He seemed like one of the less aggressive cats, one cat that Alfred figured he could at least be friends with. "I'm Alfred, Matthew's older brother."

"You're Mattie's brother?" By the sound of his voice Alfred was sure Sadiq's eyes must have been the size of saucers, but he couldn't tell due to the shadows his mask cast on them. "That's not surprising, you look just like him." Alfred had been wondering when that comment would come up. Often times his brother would get very flustered and sometimes upset when people said that, but Alfred didn't mind it. Sometimes he'd even been mistaken for his father.

After they'd said their goodbyes to Sadiq and watched the restless cat run off into the city, they went to meet the last cat on the list, the Jinx. Arthur led him to a darker, abandoned-looking part of the city and led him into a large cement building. He had explained that the Jinx kept himself in this building most of the time to keep him from accidentally hurting others. Alfred had questions in his mind about it, but he didn't voice them. If Arthur had something to tell him he'd say it. After entering the building, Arthur led him to a back room and knocked on the door. They waited a few moments before a soft voice spoke;

"Come in." Arthur opened the door and Alfred had to look around before he found the source of the voice. Sitting cross-legged on a desk was a brown haired man, ears pricked and alert. Although he had noticed them come in, his hazel eyes were focused on something other than them.

"This is Hercales Karpusi, nicknamed Clover, our Jinx. When we were being tested on the scientists gave him the power to kill using his mind. All he needs is a name and a face," Arthur explained.

"Nice to meet you," Alfred greeted the cat. Hercales twitched an ear, but that was the only reaction he had to Alfred's statement. "I'm Alfred, Matthew's older brother."

"Matthew?" a small smile crept its way across Hercales's face. "I like him. He's almost as crazy as I am." Surprisingly, Alfred didn't feel the smallest bit of discouragement by Hercales's statement. Instead, he asked;

"How come they call you the Jinx? Isn't a jinx something that brings bad luck?"

For a moment the other cat looked like he was thinking, before he replied. "It's kind of a long story, but when I was being tested on, and the scientists gave me my power, they messed up my brain. Supposedly I only had eleven years left to live. However, it's been fifteen years since then. That's why they call me the Jinx, since, essentially, I'm a ticking time bomb." Smiling, the cat tilted his head. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes," Alfred murmured. "But, why do you keep yourself all locked up in here? Do you ever get out?"

"Sometimes," the brown-haired cat replied. "But I keep myself in here so I don't accidentally get ticked off and kill someone. It's better for me that way." Obviously, Hercales had a lot of social issues, but he wouldn't let that get in the way. He wasn't aggressive, and so, Alfred figured he could at least talk to him without worry.

Finally, all of the introductions were over. It was time for Alfred's Naming Ceremony.

Arthur led him to a tall cliff-like structure that cut out into the heart of the city. Arthur, who was obviously experienced in climbing the steep edges, made it up in a few minutes. It took Alfred a little longer, but Arthur waited patiently until he was finally up there with him to call the others to gather. Stepping to the edge of the structure, Arthur let out one of the most bone-chilling sounds Alfred had ever heard; a lynx scream. When he was younger and lived in the mountains with Raven, Alfred would sometimes hear the lynx scream like that to frighten their prey just enough for them to attack. Even far away it had been fearsome, but up close it was downright scary.

At the sound of his call, the cats and shifters started to gather under the cliff. There were more than he thought, and Alfred's ears pinned back against his skull. A quick nudge from Arthur told him everything he needed to know, and Alfred slowly picked up his ears. It would be best not to show fear in front of them. As soon as all of them were gathered, Arthur began to speak.

"My cats," he addressed them. "Today is a special event. As you may already know, this year spring has come late, meaning less kittens born and less breeding, giving us a shortage of members. However, I have met a former street kitten who is willing to become a Hellcat. Alfred F. Jones," he called, looking down at the blonde haired cat and motioning him up. Cautiously, he approached the top of the cliff where the smaller blonde stood and took his place beside him. Immediately he could hear the whispers;

"Who is that?"

"Where does he come from?"

"_Look_ at that _pitiful_ street creature!" a familiar voice called. The crowd parted as Elizaveta moved through, the hatred glittering in her eyes almost making them look like they were glowing red. "He's nothing but a kitten! And look at him, he's scrawny! There's no _way _he'll last through the winter. His pitiful cries will ring out through the city, calling his little friends to come and rescue him! I can hear them now; _help me, help me!_" she let out a mocking laugh and looked up at Alfred. "Am I wrong, you little shit? Come down and fight me if I'm wrong!"

Alfred stiffened in fear. Elizaveta was probably a seasoned fighter, Alfred just acted out of instinct. There was no way he could fight her and win...

"She's challenging you." Alfred's head turned as Arthur spoke. "She thinks she's in charge. Are you just going to let her push you around like that? Or are you going to put her in her place?" Alfred didn't respond, he just focused on Elizaveta, squared his shoulders, let out a challenging caterwaul and leapt straight from the cliff onto her, bowling her over and efficiently surprising her. Hissing and snarling, she kicked the bigger male off of her and fell back, hair raised, tail fluffed out and ears pinned flat against her skull. Alfred did the same, lips curled back to show off his sharp canines, snarling dangerously. Around him, the crowd was silent, but he could feel the tense energy radiating off of them.

After a few minutes, Elizaveta lunged at him, snapping her jaws dangerously close to his neck as he dug her claws into his shoulders, snarling and hissing. Using this to his advantage, Alfred in turn sunk his own claws into her ribs and embedded his teeth in her bare shoulder, revealed due to the fact that she wasn't wearing her signature coat, which helped him out. For a moment the two scuffled, neither one wanting to let go, before Elizaveta relaxed her grip and let go, scurrying back, hissing painfully as blood trickled down her neck and shoulders. Standing up, Alfred shook the blood from his face, ignoring the pain in his arms from where Elizaveta had gripped him and the ache in his chest from where she'd kicked him. As he stood, the light cast a strange glow on him, reflecting off of his hair and eyes, making them appear to glow silver. It was then that he'd earned his name.

"Hear me now!" Arthur called, placing a hand on Alfred's shoulder. "This street kitten has earned his name! He is a wild cat!" Looking Alfred straight in the eye, Arthur slightly lowered his voice. "Alfred F. Jones," he started to ask. "Do you promise to abide by the teachings of the Hellcats and uphold the word of your Leader as law?"

Alfred didn't hesitate as he stared right back at Arthur. "I promise." he replied, voice strong and loud.

Alfred smiled, flashing his white teeth. "Then I now give you your honorary gang nickname. This cat will be known to us as Silver. We welcome him as a cat in training." Alfred lifted his head as he heard the cats around him chant;

"_Silver! Silver! Silver!_" Alfred felt a strange ripple of pride and freedom run through him as they chanted, and he closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the grungy ceiling. This was where he truly belonged.


	4. He Realizes He's Got Him Halfway To Hell

**Chapter Three**

**He Realizes He's Got Him Halfway To Hell**

_It was two hundred years ago when they first brought him to the Facility to be trained._

_The young cat struggled desperately in the cage. Although he was strong and able, the wire bars were stronger and cut into his golden fur. The cramped conditions made it impossible for him to shift, and he let out stressed meows. He'd only been suddenly uprooted from his family that morning, and the circumstances around it were still unknown. They'd taken him that morning and tranquilized him, before they'd put him in this tiny cage. Now he was bumping along a dirt road in the back of a carriage, on his way to the Facility he'd heard his parents speak of._

_Eventually the carriage stopped, and two men got out to pick up his cage. Although he was only ten human years old at the time (two in cat years), he was already half-grown and weighed more than them. They carried him in through the gates and into a concrete pen, where they set his cage down and opened it. After he was out, the two men removed the cage and shut the door to the pen. As they were walking away, one man hesitated and returned to the door and grinned at Arthur through the bars._

"_Welcome to hell."_

(Meanwhile, in the present...)

"Alright," Arthur started to say as he led Alfred to a different section of the city. This section was filled with large cement buildings, similar to the one Hercales had himself locked in. There were also large cement mazes, which he'd been told were test runs. The whole place was a training center for the new cats; it was halfly a shooting range and halfly a military training course. "This is where your training will begin. Normally, you'd train with the person you bond with but since there aren't any unbonded cats, you'll just train with me."

"What do you mean bonded?" Alfred asked curiously as he walked into one of the buildings with Arthur.

"Every cat in the group bonds to another cat," Arthur explained. "The cat they bond with is their partner for life." Looking down, Arthur pinned his ears back. "I never bonded with another cat."

"Oh." For a moment, Alfred fell silent. "How long does it take? The bonding process?"

"Sometimes it only takes days, sometimes months. I know for one of our pairs it took a whole year." Eventually they arrived at a back room, and Arthur's ears perked back up. "Ah. Here we are. This is where you'll get your collar and bandanna, the markings of the Cats." In the middle of the room stood a single lone column, and on top of that column rested a silver box. "Every time a new cat joins the Cats or comes of age, one of these appears. Each collar is made especially for that specific cat. No one else is allowed to wear the collar or the bandanna." Walking over to it, Arthur picked up the box and handed it to Alfred. "You can keep the box if you want, but you don't need it." Alfred carefully took the box and studied it for a second, before deciding to open it. Inside was a silver collar with a gold tag attached, reading "ALFRED F. JONES, CAT IN TRAINING." Behind it rested a green bandanna, and Alfred rested the box back on the column as he first clipped on the collar, then tied on the bandanna. They rested easily on his neck and didn't feel the least bit awkward, like he'd expected it to.

"Will I have to change the tag when my rank changes?" Alfred asked, looking down at the tag that was half-hidden by his new accessory.

"No, it'll change itself," Arthur replied.

"How does it do that?" Alfred asked, looking curiously at the other blonde. Arthur just shrugged.

"Don't know. It just...happens. Anyway, it's time for you to get your gun. Follow me." Again Arthur took off down the hallway, and Alfred followed, curiously awaiting whatever was ahead of him. Eventually they came to another large room, where there were a multitude of guns lying in glass cases with the tops open, some lying against the wall, and some were actually up on the wall, supported by shelves and hooks. As he looked around with wide eyes, one of the guns began to shake. For a moment, Alfred froze with fear, wondering what could be causing such a thing to happen, before the gun flew off of its place on the shelf and landed in Alfred's hands.

"Was that magic too?" Alfred asked, carefully studying the gun that he held in his hands. Judging from what the tag wrapped around the end said, it was a Daewoo USAS-12, and it seemed to be fairly new and in good condition. He'd never used a gun before, and his hands shook a little as he held onto it. "Will it fire?"

"No, number one, it's on safety, number two, it won't fire unless you put your finger on the trigger and pull, and number three, it's not loaded," Arthur told him. "Have you never used a gun before?"

"Was it that obvious?" Alfred half-chuckled as his tight grip loosened on the shotgun in his hands. "No, I've never used one. Mattie and I's foster mom didn't believe in using guns to solve problems."

"That's the silliest idea that I've ever heard, but I guess if it worked for her..." Turning, Arthur started to walk out. "Come with me. It's time to start your training."

Alfred was led into one of the sections of the training facility, and it was a shooting range. He immediately flinched at the sounds of guns being fired, and Arthur nudged him out of his crouching position.

"If you want to live with us, you'll have to get used to hearing gunshots," Arthur told him, and Alfred nodded and followed him. Every once and a while, he flinched at a particularly loud shot. Finally they came to a large clearing-like area with targets set up on a hill. After giving him a pair of protective goggles, earmuffs, and plenty of bullets, Arthur showed him how to hold the gun and aim at the target.

"Don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire," he told him, and Alfred nodded, staring at the target over the top of the gun. Eventually, he pulled the trigger and fired a shot. It missed where he was aiming by a lot, and the blonde frowned at his failed attempt.

"It's alright, a lot of people miss on the first shot. Don't get discouraged," Arthur told him. "We'll stay here until you can hit the center target consistently." Biting his lip, Alfred crouched and re-aimed at the target. He was determined to get it right, no matter how many times he had to try.

Since there was no sun, Alfred had no idea how long he'd been training, but from a quick glance at his watch he could tell that it had been a long time. He'd left his house at ten o' clock the day before, and now it was ten o' clock. It had been at least two days since he'd slept, and he hadn't eaten anything all day. The shifter was exhausted, but he was finally able to shoot the target consistently; well, almost consistently. He still missed a few times, but he was doing better than he was at the beginning.

"Alright, I think it's about time we went home," Arthur suggested, noticing how exhausted the other shifter was. "You've done well enough today. We'll train some more tomorrow." Alfred returned the goggles and earmuffs to Arthur before following him out of the building, eyes glazed with fatigue and hunger.

Once they'd made it back to the city, and Arthur had realized just how hungry Alfred was, he offered him something to eat before he took him to where he'd be staying. He'd given him a small thing that looked like a biscuit, but by smelling it Alfred knew it wasn't the same thing.

"What is it?" He asked, looking at the thing in his hand.

"It's a scone," Arthur replied, and Alfred's ears twitched. He'd never heard of such a thing, so he decided to try it. Cautiously, Alfred picked it up in his mouth, then devoured the whole thing with one bite. After it was gone, Alfred curled his lip in distaste. It hadn't tasted very good at all (rather bland, if you asked him), and it hadn't helped with his hunger in the slightest.

"I don't like it," the blonde muttered. "No offense but...it's nasty."

The smaller cat huffed and his ears did 180's as he closed his green eye. "I don't understand why nobody likes them. _I _like them." At his comment, a small grin flashed across Alfred's face, before disappearing as he waited for Arthur to show him to his home.

They walked on for a while before they reached streets of what looked like apartment buildings, but Arthur explained that they were more like college dorm rooms. Each building was made up of six sections, an A, B, C, D, E, and F section. In each section there were 6 rooms and a common room, which was like a living room, complete with a fridge, oven, microwave, T.V. and a place to set up a computer. Due to the fact the cats paired together, twelve cats could be living in one section at a time.

Alfred was told that he'd be staying at Building 1, Section A, room 6. He gave Arthur his goodbyes before going into the building and walking sleepily to Section A, which, luckily was on the bottom floor so he didn't have to go up any steps or anything. As soon as he opened the door, however, he found that it would most likely be very hard to get any sleep sometime soon.

"Give it back!" A rough, German voice commanded, and Alfred looked for the source of it. A blonde haired cat was busy chasing a white haired one around the common room. The white haired one had a bag of something in his arms, and whatever it was apparently belonged to the German.

"You'll have to catch me first," the second teased, pausing for just a moment before continuing to run around.

"You should settle down, Gilbert," a dark reddish-brown haired cat snapped from where he sat on the couch. "If you break another one of my vases, then so help me..." A brown-haired cat sat beside him, eyes half closed and smiling as he leaned against the smaller cat, who didn't appear to be enjoying his presence. Also beside him, in a big lazy chair sat a silver and white tiger, curled up and sleeping in the chair, head tucked under his foreleg, tail twitching every so often in his sleep. Alfred noticed his brother, Matthew, intently watching the chase between the two cats. Another blonde haired cat watched beside him as well, tail lashing back and forth eagerly. Obviously, they were both curious to see how this would turn out.

"Calm down you guys," a voice called from the stove, and Alfred could see a lighter reddish-brown haired cat standing there over a pot of boiling something, and the something smelled good. "The pasta is almost ready~" So that's what it was.

At the sound of his voice, the white-haired cat's head turned, distracting him for just a moment as he tripped over a fallen object, before landing flat on his face. The bag that he'd been holding fell out of his arms, and what appeared to be little rocks tumbled across the floor.

"My lava rocks*!" the blonde-haired cat exclaimed, moving to put them all back inside of the bag. He growled dangerously at the white-haired cat, who grinned sheepishly before backing up.

"Care to explain what's going on here?" Alfred yawned tiredly, sitting down in a chair and looking at his brother through half-closed sky blue eyes.

"Hello, Alfred," Matthew greeted, turning around from where he'd been sitting to look at his brother. "Gilbert stole Ludwig's lava rocks again." Alfred stared at him for a moment, before deciding not to ask and just sighing and shaking his head. For a moment, Matthew was silent as well, before his eyes brightened. "Oh, guys, I have to introduce you to my older brother, Alfred."

"Is this the brother you've been telling us about?" the second blonde who'd been sitting beside Matthew asked.

"Yes, it is." Sitting on the couch, Matthew curled his tail around his feet and grinned. "Alfred, this is Francis Bonnefoy, nickname Joker. He's my partner."

_Partner..._ Alfred thought as he looked at the other cat. _So my brother is already bonded._ "Nice to meet you," Alfred greeted.

"The tiger sleeping in the chair over there is Ivan Braginski, nickname Wolf. He's Gilbert's partner; oh, and Gilbert is the white-haired one who was holding the bag. His full name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, nickname Dog. He's Ludwig's older brother. The blonde one is Ludwig Beilschmidt, nickname Shotgun. His partner is Feliciano. The one at the stove is Feliciano Vargas, nickname Wine, he's Lovino's younger brother. The dark reddish-brown haired one sitting on the couch is Lovino Vargas, nickname Stone. His partner is Antonio, the one sitting beside him. His full name is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, nicknamed Sail." After Matthew had finally finished talking, he looked over at Alfred. "Got that?"

"I...I think so," he murmured. Alfred was really too tired to tell, but hopefully he'd remember their names in the morning. "Say, is that food ready yet? I'm starving."

"It just got finished!" Feliciano announced from where he stood. "You're in luck tonight!"

After he'd finally finished eating and was ready to turn in for the night, Alfred got up, stretched, and yawned mightily before trotting off to the room where he'd be staying. As he left, Matthew looked after him.

"Where are you going?" the younger blonde asked.

"To bed," Alfred replied, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, I'll see you too." For a moment, Matthew went silent, before getting up and running over to his older brother and hugging him tightly. Alfred just stood there a bit stunned, seeing how his brother had never given him such a display, before smiling and putting his arms around Matthew's shoulders. "I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too, little brother," Alfred smiled, gently stroking the top of his brother's head. The last few days had definitely gone better than he'd planned.

_Meanwhile, somewhere somewhat far away..._

"Did you hear the news?" a black haired professor asked a second, a dusky-brown haired one.

"No," he replied, looking up from the newspaper he'd been reading. "What happened?"

"Two new shifters joined the Hellcats in the last two months," the first muttered. "By the names of Alfred F. Jones and Matthew Williams. Supposedly, they're brothers, but I wouldn't know."

The dusky-brown haired professor just lifted the newspaper to his face. "That's interesting." He had nothing more to say on the topic.

Another man was not quite so passive about the news.

"_WHAT?_" an elder scientist asked, turning around. A similar-looking brunette stood next to him; the two looked nearly identical, except for that the other man had much lighter hair than the first, so light it was almost cinnamon brown.

"We've just confirmed that the two have, in fact joined the Hellcats, under rule by Arthur Kirkland." the young scientist who'd given them the news squeaked as the older brunette jumped forward and gripped his neck.

"Imbecile!" he snarled, tossing him to the ground and kicking the scientist's ribs. "You don't just run around like a chicken with its head cut off! Send someone down there to—"

"Don't worry about it, Victor," the other scientist told him, walking over to the older. He had a heavy Italian accent, another thing that separated himself and the first. "I can handle it."

Jones, the first, hesitated for a moment, before smiling and nodding. "Yes, please do Attilo. Just remember—bring at least one back alive. It would be even better if you brought both back with you, but if you need to make two trips that would be fine."

"I think one trip will be enough," Attilo replied, bowing his head. "I shall not fail you, my brother."

"You've never failed me before, Attilo. I don't doubt you." Jones looked out of the window at the still-dark sky. "Go now." The Italian nodded and walked out of the office, and Jones smiled as he watched him leave. "Even if Attilo fails to catch him now, I still know where the two are. They will be in my possession…make no doubt about that. And this time, there's nothing that _man_ can do about it."

And, by that decree, there was an antagonist and a protagonist.

[*"My lava rocks!" – I don't normally do this but I think this needed an explanation. Sometimes, animals get compulsive behaviors just like humans. They need to do a certain thing to keep them calm. For Ludwig-cat, he chews on lava rocks. A lot of animals do this. It's not harmful, but it does make their teeth quite white and shiny. I would know, I know a dog who chews on them daily.]


	5. His Training Pays Off In Hell

**Chapter Four**

**His Training Pays Off In Hell**

The next morning, Alfred awoke to the sound of arguing. It was sound that he would get very used to, just like gunshots and screaming.

"I told you, Joker, that cereal is mine!" Alfred recognized the voice as Lovino's, and Alfred yawned, pushing himself out of bed. Since he had no partner, Alfred had slept alone, unlike all of the other cats. He almost enjoyed the solitude on one hand, but on the other he felt almost lonely. As he got dressed in the clothes that he'd been given the previous day and went out into the hallway, he saw what Francis and Lovino were fighting over.

"That's too bad, Stone," the Frenchman chided, hiding his cereal from Lovino. The dark reddish-brown haired Italian growled angrily at the other cat. "Early bird gets the worm, as they say..."

"I don't care what they say! They can go to hell!"

"Calm down, Stone, it's just a bowl of cereal," a new voice murmured. Alfred looked around for a moment before spotting the person who'd spoken. He was a small, black haired, brown eyed, pale skinned cat with two strange looking pistols in his hands. He had been studying them intently, and there were empty magazines and bullets spread on the tale beside him. Looking up, the cat looked startled, before looking down, away from Alfred.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "Am I bothering you?" His accent was thick, and Alfred could tell from it that he was Japanese. People and cats of Asian descent were very hard to find in his neighborhood, but Raven had known quite a few of them, which was how he knew where the new cat was from.

"No, you're fine," Alfred replied, sitting next to the smaller cat. "I don't think I met you last night. What's your name? I'm Alfred F. Jones, but they call me...Silver."

"My name is Kiku Honda, they call me Sword. You must be the new cat the Leader has taken under his wing; I heard about you from Flower. From what she told me, you beat Scar in a fight. It's been a long time since someone's been able to do that. You must truly have some sort of skill." A small grin crossed the cat's face. "You know, it's been a long time since the Leader's taken a cat to be specifically trained by him. It's very hard to get so high up in his sights. You shouldn't take it passively."

Alfred nodded his thanks to the other cat. "Thank you. I'll take your word for it." For a moment they were both silent, before Alfred turned to Kiku again. "So tell me, where were you last night? I mean, you don't have to say if you're not allowed to talk about it..."

"Oh no, it was just Midnight Patrol," Kiku replied. "Nothing special. We also had to raid a house suspected of holding drugs. The Leader has a strict no drugs policy for his territory, and apparently one of the owners of the house had been caught with cocaine. It's a routine thing, really. We didn't even have to shoot anyone."

Alfred had nothing to say about that, so he simply stood and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, I'd better get to leaving. The Leader wanted me to come for training at twelve." It was almost that time, so Alfred pulled on his bomber jacket and started out of the door. "It was nice meeting you, Sword."

That day, Arthur started Alfred on a new type of training. He introduced him to hand to hand combat, in which they weren't allowed to use their guns. Apparently it was a very important part of his training, which was why Arthur had set a time for it. Once they'd gotten to an open part of the training grounds, the two stood on opposite sides of the field, looking at each other across a distance of about 20 feet.

"Alright, attack me," Arthur commanded from where he stood. Alfred hesitated for a moment, and Arthur noticed it. "Don't worry about hurting me, just do it." Squaring his shoulders, Alfred decided to forget the formalities and ran straight at Arthur. The second cat was surprised at how fast he moved, but he was faster and able to move out of the way before Alfred had a chance to catch him. The bigger cat started to turn to follow his movements, but he wasn't fast enough this time and Arthur was easily able to pin him to the ground with one swift move. Alfred struggled against his strong grip and attempted to push him off, but his efforts were in vain. Arthur refused to let go, and eventually Alfred admitted defeat and looked up at Arthur with half-narrowed blue eyes. The one-eyed cat just smiled and got off of him, letting the other get up and shake the dust from his clothes.

"You're too predictable," Arthur told Alfred simply. "Charging straight at your enemy isn't going to work most of the time, they'll just outsmart you like I did. You need to be able to change your strategy on a dime so they won't be able to keep up with you, but at the same time you need to learn how to keep up with them." Arthur noticed the confused haze over Alfred's eyes, and he just sighed. "I know it sounds confusing now, but it will get less confusing and more natural the more you practice. For now, let's just keep going until you can pin me down."

Again and again that day Alfred tried and failed to pin the smaller cat, but it just wasn't seeming to work. As he went on, however, he began to notice a pattern in the leader's actions, and he got an idea. This time, when he lunged for Arthur and the cat dodged away, he used his momentum to quickly move under the smaller cat and knock him off his feet by whacking him hard in a certain place on his lower leg. Arthur let out a surprised squeal as he fell to the ground, and not missing a beat Alfred pinned him, ears held forward in triumph, tail lashing back and forth. For a moment Arthur lie there, panting, before he opened his one green eye and grinned up at Alfred.

"You're a fast learner, aren't you?" Alfred let the other cat up, and Arthur shook himself off like Alfred had done so many times that day. "I've never had anyone beat me that way before. You're already learning your own techniques." Alfred couldn't help but smile at the cat's words.

"Thanks. Are...we done then?" He asked, looking at his watch. It was only 8:00 this time, and he wasn't feeling nearly as tired or hungry as he was the night before, despite the fact that he'd skipped out on dinner.

"Yes, we're done. You can go now, but I'll probably stay here for a bit." Arthur turned and started to walk off, before he stopped, bobbed tail twitching. "By the way, I'm sure you'll make a great soldier. Just like your brother."

Alfred had nothing to say to that; he just smiled to himself and walked off, tail and ears held up just a little bit higher.

_Meanwhile, outside of the camp..._

"So you're saying this is it?" Attilo asked the dog who sat beside him. The dog, an Airedale Terrier, nodded his head. They were currently sitting outside of the false entrance to the Hellcat's camp, and Attilo frowned. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Of course," he replied. "I've been seeing many of their top members coming in and out through this. A little bit of investigation revealed that they have a front opening in the actual building, but in the back of the building there's a bigger opening. The first opening is small, and all of us won't be able to successfully attack by going through there. I was thinking we could send a few dogs through the front opening as a diversion while the rest of us take the back."

"I like the way you think," the Italian grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth. "Alright then. Rally the troops and bring them here. We'll attack in thirty minutes."

"Yes sir!" The Airedale saluted him, before running off in the opposite direction to go retrieve the remaining 300 troops that Attilo had brought with them. It wasn't many, but Attilo figured it could at least cause a diversion so that he could retrieve one or both of his targets. It wouldn't be easy, but Attilo knew he could do it.

_Thirty minutes later..._

Alfred had been taking a short nap, trying to get some peace from the outside world for a moment, when he had been rudely awakened by his brother nudging him awake.

"Al, wake up," the smaller cat whispered urgently. "You have to get up, it's an emergency!"

"What's so important that you had to wake me up?" Alfred asked, yawning and sitting up in bed. His eyes were half-narrowed with annoyance, but he didn't look all that intimidating due to the fact that he was dressed in only his boxers.

"I feel like something bad is about to happen," Matthew muttered. "You'd better get dressed right away." For a moment, Alfred just thought his brother was paranoid, before he realized the cat was serious, and so he got out of bed.

"Alright, fine. But you go until this bad thing happens."

Alfred didn't have to wait long for the catastrophe Matthew was talking about to happen. Almost immediately after he was dressed, he heard the outside guards yowl an alarm, and almost immediately he heard barking. For a second he was confused; there were only cats here, not dogs. Then, a thought crossed his mind that the gang might need help, and so he dashed out of the window after grabbing his gun from its stand and hooking it to the special harness he wore to keep it out of sight. He didn't know if he'd have to use it, but it would be better to keep it on hand just in case.

As soon as he got outside, he realized just how severe the situation was. Hellcats were engaged in battle with dogs, but not just any normal dogs; these dogs rivaled the Hellcats in size, almost lioness-sized, like the Hellcats. Obviously, the scientists had created a breed of dogs similar to the cats, probably just to counter them. Looking around, he noticed that a dog had a brown tabby and white tom pinned on his back, snarling angrily at the cat. Blood dripped from its salivating jaws, and the dog started to put its jaws around the cat's neck. Without thinking, Alfred quickly turned into his cat form and slammed into the dog, causing it to let out a surprised yelp as it flew back against the wall. Twisting his head around, he ordered, "Run!" before turning back to the dog. He could tell from the breed that it was a Siberian Husky, a very fluffy and muscular one at that. Looking at him, it snarled darkly before lunging at him, catching Alfred by the front foreleg and pulling him down on the ground. Hissing, Alfred tore his leg away, growling as he noticed the blood dripping down his leg.

Again, the husky lunged at him, but this time Alfred dodged out of the way, landing on the dog's back. He attempted to sink his teeth and claws into the dog's skin, but he was too furry. All that Alfred ended up with was a mouth full of disgusting dog fur, and he loosened his grip on the bucking dog, spitting out fur with distaste. At his moment of hesitation, the dog lunged again and grabbed him by the throat. He'd happened to grab the unprotected area where Alfred's collar and bandanna didn't sit, and he was biting down hard. Gagging, the cat tried to tear himself away, but it wasn't working. The husky obviously had no intention of letting go, and Alfred's claws couldn't tear past that thick layer of fur. Just as he was starting to lose consciousness, he heard the sound of gunshots being fired, and the dog let out a surprised yelp, before a magazine of bullets tore through its body. The dead dog's jaws loosened and Alfred managed to wriggle out of its grasp, before looking for the cat who'd saved him. Standing a few feet away was Arthur, a trickle of blood going down his shoulder. He was panting heavily, and his one green eye was narrowed angrily at Alfred.

"What were you thinking?" He asked, walking over to the injured cat. Since the wounds weren't fatal, Alfred's blood was already starting to recede into his body, but that didn't keep them (or Arthur's words) from stinging. "You could have been killed just now if I didn't show up!" Alfred looked down as Arthur sighed heavily. "You're a dumbass, Alfred. But, you saved Yao without hesitation. That earns you some points in my eyes." Looking down, Arthur smiled and patted him on the head. "Now, turn into your human form and come with me. It's important that we find your brother now."

"Why?" Alfred asked curiously.

"I have a feeling the reason they're attacking has something to do with you and your brother, that's why," Arthur replied, already starting to walk off. "Hurry up, before he suffers the same fate you almost did."

However, it wasn't Matthew who was currently in trouble, it was Francis. The Frenchman had been backed up against the wall by another dog who was currently holding a gun to his chest. The dog grinned evilly, and Francis pinned his ears back against his skull.

"I would suggest you remove that gun immediately," Francis told him, tail lashing. "Unless you want to get killed."

"Why should I?" the dog laughed. "You can't do a thing to me. Right now, there's nothing you can—" It looked as though the shifter was going to say more, but a loud voice cut him off.

"Duck!" it yelled, and Francis dropped to the ground and immediately covered his head. The dog turned in confusion, and, just like the one before it, a magazine of bullets tore through its body. Looking up, Francis noticed Matthew standing there, Diemaco C8A1 carbine in hand, frowning at his partner.

"Honestly. I thought you were smart enough to always have you gun with you, but even after this long you still don't carry it around with you." His frown turned into a smile as he offered a hand for Francis to take, and he took it, letting Matthew pull him up onto his feet. "I guess that's what I get for being paired with a Frenchman."

"A bit stereotypical, aren't we, Mathieu?" Francis asked, grinning as Matthew's eyes brightened a little when he used his special nickname.

"It's not a stereotype if it's true. Now come on, I think my brother's looking for me." As the two made their way back out into the main city, they noticed that the dogs were retreating, cats at their heels. Obviously, the leader had seen that there was no way they could win at the moment. The dogs were severely outnumbered; there had to be at least 1500 cats, and only 300 of them. Unlike the Spartans, however, the dogs weren't willing to fight to the death, and at least fifty of them had already been felled by the cat's superior bullets.

"Matthew!" Alfred called as he found his brother, wrapping his protective arms around the smaller cat. Matthew looked up at his older brother as he returned the hug, before pulling away. "I've been looking for you! Come on, the Leader's got something to share with us."

When they arrived at the Leader's home a few minutes later, they realized what it was.

"Talk, you useless piece of shit!" A rough voice commanded. Alfred recognized it as Ludwig's, and he peered cautiously into the room. The blonde haired cat was too busy kicking the captured dog in the ribs to notice Alfred, Matthew, and Francis's appearances, but a soft cough from Matthew was all it took to catch his attention. "Oh, you're here. I guess I should let the Leader take over now...that is, if he wants too." Ludwig turned his head in the direction of Arthur, who sat on his couch, looking uninterestedly at the subject in question.

"I'm not sure," Arthur chided almost jokingly. "If you can't get him to talk, I'm not sure I can...but I can try..." Walking over to the bound dog, Arthur got on his knees in front of him and pulled a rather large knife from his jacket, pressing it against the dog's arm. "Would you like to talk, you barking moron?" Still, the dog remained silent, and Arthur just clicked his tongue. "That's too bad." With those words, he plunged the knife right into the dog's arm, earning him a loud scream in response. In a few moments, the blood began to recede, but since the knife was lodged in his arms, the wound couldn't heal completely, and he was still in pain. Arthur pulled yet another knife from his jacket and put it this time against the other arm and threatened him again. Even with the pain of a knife in one arm, the dog refused to speak, and Arthur again stuck the knife into his arm, this time cutting straight through past the bone and out through the other side. The third time he threatened the dog, he held the knife right above his breastbone, and finally the dog began to speak.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" he cried. "I-it was all Attilo and Victor's plans...th-they were trying to kidnap Alfred F. Jones and Matthew W-Williams, on account from a deal from a-another scientist, but I s-swear that's all I know! Please don't s-stab me again!" Standing up, Arthur looked over at Alfred, Matthew, and Francis.

"Does that answer your previous question?" he asked, and Alfred nodded. Looking over at the dog, he scoffed. "Take him away, Shotgun. Throw him in the jail. Don't bother taking those knives out; they can stay there until his arms rot off due to infection." The cat nodded in agreement, before grabbing the wailing dog by the tail and dragging it off, not even bothering to pick it up. It was then that Alfred saw just how terribly ruthless and cruel his Leader could truly be.

**[Just in case any of you were wondering; no, Arthur does not hate all dogs. He just hates the ones who mess with his crew. Just answering some questions before they're asked.]**


	6. His First Mission In Hell

**Chapter Five**

**His First Mission In Hell**

Of course, Alfred had expected for Arthur to up the intensity of his training after the whole incident, and he was correct. The leader was determined to get Alfred ready if he had to be in a situation like that again; Alfred didn't know if it was because Arthur didn't want to have to save him again or if it was because Arthur was genuinely worried about him. Either way, Alfred was forced to learn quickly and remember everything he learned, which wasn't hard, but he also had to learn how to put it in motion and use all of his training to his advantage. As they days passed by, both Arthur and Alfred saw a change in his technique. Where he made moves almost carelessly and on impulse before, he was fixing them and actually thinking about what he did. When he trained in the training maze, filled with dummies and targets, his reactions were always fast and quick. When he shot at targets, he was almost never missing what he aimed for, even if the target was moving. When they practiced hand-to-hand, Alfred was starting to beat Arthur much more than he used to when he'd first started to learn the technique. Noticing his path of improvement, Arthur decided that it was time for Alfred's Solder-Initiation assignment. One day, after training, Arthur took him to his home to break it down for him.

"It's time for your Soldier-Initiation assignment," Arthur told him that day. "If you can pass it, you'll be accepted as a Soldier, just like the others. This means that you'll be able to go on patrols and freely wander the territory instead of having to stay here all the time." Alfred nodded at his words. "You'll be going with me, Ludwig, Feliciano, Gilbert, and Ivan to knock out a rival small gang leader's headquarters. I don't think it should be too hard for you. The others and I will cause a diversion and you'll take out the leader, this man, Flann Beck." He gave Alfred a picture of a dark brown haired cat and let him look it over. "Keep it. This is the man you'll be killing. Meet us tomorrow here at four, that's when we move out."

"Is that all?" Alfred asked, looking over at Arthur with questioning blue eyes. The second nodded, before standing up to lead him out. As they were walking to the door, Arthur smiled.

"I have no doubt you'll be able to pull it off. If Matthew was able to do it, then so will you." Leaning in close, a sly grin crossed his face. "Don't tell him I said this, but I think that it may be possible that you learn faster than he does."

Alfred let out a soft laugh, looking at Arthur with dubious eyes. "Really? Well, thank you. I'll...be going now. I'll see you tomorrow." Turning, Alfred left and started to walk back to his building. He didn't say it, but, secretly Arthur's words left him feeling just the slightest bit more self-confident.

_It was two hundred ago when they first put a gun in his hands._

_The year was 1811. They had taken him out to a primitive form of a shooting range and put a musket in his hands. His mentor, a tall man with a deep, authoritive voice had showed him how to shoot it and hit a target. The first time Arthur shot the gun, he horribly overshot and missed the target. He didn't expect what happened next to happen; every time he missed, he earned a sharp slap to the face, or a fist to the ribs, or a kick to the leg. Since he was still young, and his healing powers didn't kick in until he was fifteen, every day after training he'd come back to his cell bruised and in pain. However, his training wasn't the worst thing he'd have to look forward to._

_Every night, scientists came to take him to a strange-smelling, scary place. He didn't know what it was or where he was, but every day they'd stick him with needles or do some kind of test on him. The worst was the water test; they'd put him in a deep pool filled with water and see how long he could swim without giving up and getting exhausted. Some days he lasted longer than others, and some days he couldn't keep himself up for even thirty minutes. It was horrible, the way they just stared at him and took notes. Arthur wished it could just all end, or that someone would help him with this pain._

_But someone did._

_One day after the tests were over, and he lie on a cot in a recovery room, he heard a voice come in through the window._

"_Hey. Hey, you." His ears flicked, and Arthur turned his head ever so slightly to address the voice. "What's your name?"_

"_A-Arthur," he whimpered. "Arthur Kirkland. And you?"_

"_I'm Francis Bonnefoy." For a moment, the voice was silent. "Let's be friends."_

**Meanwhile, somewhere in a lab...**

"I underestimated them," Victor murmured, watching as his twin restlessly paced the floor. Attilo was angry that he hadn't been able to accomplish his goal, and he was exhibiting it through restless behavior and outbursts of violence. "It was my fault, Attilo. I'm the one who told you to take too few soldiers. Don't worry, we won't screw up next time."

"How can you be so sure?" Attilo growled, lips curled back in an angry snarl. "We lost once, how do you know that we won't lose again?"

"Because we learn from our mistakes," Victor replied simply. "We don't make mistakes over again. Those cats won't know what hit them the next time we attack." Attilo just frowned and continued to pace. It was obvious that he didn't fully believe his brother.

In the meantime, the man who'd been sitting outside of the door narrowed his eyes and walked away. It was time to take some desperate measures.

**The next day, at 4...**

Today was a very important day, definitely, for Alfred. He made sure to arrive right at four, just as Arthur had specified at his house. Crowded around a table were his leader himself, then Feliciano, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Ivan, all staring at a piece of paper on the table. It looked like a map, but Alfred was a little too far away to tell.

"Ah, there you are," Arthur greeted, looking up from the map for a second. The other cats did little but flick an ear when he approached. "I was going over the plan one more time. Feliciano and Ludwig will take the headquarters from in front. They'll start the attack from in front. Ivan and Gilbert will come in behind them to back them up, and you and I will go in through the back to where the leader usually stays. After I've got you there, I'll most likely leave. Got it?" Alfred nodded, and Arthur looked at all of the other cats. "Ready?" After a few moments, the cats left the house and were on their way to their target area.

On the inside, Alfred was as excited as a kid at Christmastime, but he was also as nervous as the same kid right before the big exams at the end of the year. On one hand, he was excited to be participating in something so big with Arthur and the others. On the other hand, he was nervous; he had no idea if he could actually do this or not. Deciding to shake off his nervousness, he simply focused on the task ahead. If he hesitated at all, it could prove to be fatal.

All too soon they were arriving at the building. Arthur took a second look at the photo he'd received of the target building, and after confirming that it was a match, he motioned for Ludwig and Feliciano to move in. The cats crept almost wearily along the bushes and trees surrounding the area, carefully approaching the front entrance of the building. Eventually, Ivan and Gilbert moved in after them, and Alfred and Arthur started to circle around to the back of the building. Not thirty seconds later, Alfred heard the sound of gunshots and screaming, and he knew that the others had made it in. The two of them now started to run and quickly reached the back door, tails twitching and ears alert.

"This is where we part," Arthur told him over the noise of bullets and howling. "I'll meet back up with you near the front, got it?" Alfred nodded, and the smaller blonde pushed through the door, followed by Alfred, who soon broke away from him and looked for his target. He soon found him, cowering under a large desk. Kicking the chair in front of it out of the way, Alfred pointed his gun at the man's head, who looked up at Alfred with frightened brown eyes.

"Who are you people?" he asked, and Alfred grinned as he started to pull the trigger back.

"We're the Cats from Hell," Alfred replied, before firing a round into the man's head. Since his target was neutralized, he ran out into the main room. Most of the shifters were dead, with the group of five standing in the main room. They were all starting to point their guns down, signing that they'd probably killed everyone who was there. Arthur, who had been busy fighting a man in the corner, trotted over to Alfred.

"So you're done?" he asked, and Alfred nodded. "That was fast. He must not have been any kind of match at all." Nodding again, Alfred's ears twitched as he heard a noise. It sounded like a rustle from outside, and Alfred could tell that it was from somewhere near the window. It only took him a fraction of a second to realize what it was, and eyes widening, he pushed the other to the ground.

"Get down!" he snapped at the others. "There's a sniper!" As soon as the words had left his mouth, a bullet grazed his pointed ear, and he turned looking at where the bullet had come from. There was a small hole in the window where it had probably passed through, and for just a moment Alfred's eyes met that of his attacker's, and he saw fear pass through the sniper's face, before Alfred stood and headed straight for him, jumping straight through the window. The sniper fired more shots, but Alfred dodged every single one of them. His senses were on overdrive as he gave the sniper a roundhouse to the head, effectively knocking him senseless. Looking at him, Alfred knew immediately that this was no cat shifter, either. This was most definitely a dog. Deciding not to waste any time, Alfred pulled out his gun and fired a few shots into the dog's body, before turning back and heading back to the building. The whole ordeal had lasted less than two minutes, but it felt much longer. Arthur was still on the floor where Alfred had pushed him, and the other cats had fallen flat on their stomachs after Alfred had sounded the alarm, but as he returned they started to come up.

"A-Alfred..." he murmured, looking at him with wide eyes. "You...did you just...kill that sniper?"

"Of course I did," Alfred replied, holding out a hand to help Arthur up. The cat gladly took it and shakily got to his feet, leaning up against Alfred for a moment to steady himself.

"Thank you," Arthur murmured, letting out a shaky breath. "You...saved my life you know. If he'd shot me where he was aiming..."

"I know. That's why I did it." Grinning, Alfred ran a hand through his ash blonde hair. "I don't know what I'd do if I let the leader die."

Grinning, Arthur stood a few feet away from Alfred now that he was able to support himself. "Well, I believe you've definitely passed this test with flying colors. Good job, Soldier." Alfred couldn't help but smile at the voicing of his new rank, and he raised his head ever so slightly. Today has definitely been a success.

When he returned home, news of his valiant rescue spread quickly. He got a lot of congratulations from other members, and he accepted them humbly. He was still weary of a few of the cats, but most of them seemed to be starting to accept him as a new member of the gang, even more so now that he was a Solider, and no longer just a Cat in Training.

"I heard about you saving the leader today," Sadiq told him as Alfred accompanied him on his message-carrying rounds. Most of the time, he acted as a messenger giving messages from Arthur straight to outside members, but he also had a job as inner messenger for the cats in the gang, almost like a mailman, sending little messages from one cat to another. Alfred was able to accompany him on these trips, and it could be actually somewhat interesting. "That was great. What you did. It was pretty brave, too."

"Thanks," Alfred murmured. "Hey, how come you don't go on missions?" For a moment, the cat was quiet, before sighing.

"My health. Thanks to the fact the scientists screwed up my growth, my ribs are way closer to my lungs and heart than they should be. If I get too excited, my lungs could collapse or my heart could fail. Arthur never puts me in any missions unless I'm seriously needed." Sadiq's tail twitched almost sadly. "Sometimes I wish he would. I'm dying to do more than just run away all the time."

Another cat didn't appear to be so happy about Alfred's victory. That night, he was pinned against the wall by a mysterious assailant. This assailant turned out to be none other than Elizaveta herself, a scowl on her face and green eyes narrowed.

"Listen, you," she snarled. "Just because you saved the leader and you're a Soldier now doesn't mean you're anything more than special shit now. To me, you're still the same stupid little Street Kitten who walked in here that day. You're _nothing_, and don't make today change anything you think about yourself." The cat released her grip on Alfred's throat and briskly walked off, and Alfred rubbed his sore neck, frowning as she walked away. His prediction that first day had come true; he and Elizaveta didn't get along well at all.

Even after they'd both gone to sleep, the day's events weren't over for Arthur and Alfred. Arthur had some trouble getting to sleep that night; his right hand felt like it was on fire, sending burning sensations up and down his arm. At first, he just tried to ignore it, but eventually he could take it no more and sat up in his bed, gritting his teeth and pinning his ears back against his head. Turning on the small lamp that rested on a table next to his bed, Arthur put his hand under the light to study it. Looking at his hand, his eyes widened in fear and disbelief. On the palm of his right hand, an intricate marking had appeared. The marking was none other than a bonding mark.

"Bloody hell..." the cat murmured, studying the mark intently. To whom had he been bonded to? For a moment, he just stared at it, before he put two and two together and realized something.

Somewhere, in room 6, in section A, in building 1, Alfred had gotten the same bonding mark on his right hand.


	7. He's Bound To Hell Forever

**Chapter Six**

**In Which He Realizes He's Bound To Hell Forever**

Obviously, the next morning, Alfred was curious, and a bit alarmed, at the new marking that had suddenly appeared on his hand. Since he had no idea what it was, he thought that it would most likely be best to consult Elizaveta on it. As much as he disliked that idea, he didn't really have much of a choice; she was the healer, after all, and if this was a sign of some strange disease, he needed to know right away. So, that morning, after he'd eaten breakfast, he made his way over to the Healer's den. As he made his way there, he bumped into someone who was quite familiar.

"Hey," the someone murmured when he ran into him. Alfred turned, ready to say that he was sorry, but the other cat beat him to saying anything. "You're the cat from yesterday, the one who saved the leader."

"Yes...I am," Alfred murmured.

"I thought you were familiar! My name is Wang Yao, nickname Shield, the cat you saved the other day. I just wanted to say thanks. I didn't recognize you until I heard the other cats talking about you." The brown haired cat twitched his tail and started to trot off, and Alfred just grinned as he continued his walk to the Healer's Den. It sure was funny, how people just bumped into other people.

The sign read "Open", so Alfred opened the door and walked inside. Standing there was Elizaveta, currently busy sorting some herbs and medicine. Looking over at him, she snorted.

"What do you want? Little shit..." she muttered, putting a jar of pills in the cabinet. Alfred hesitated a moment before walking forward.

"There's something I need you to take a look at. I...have absolutely no idea what it is. I'm afraid it could be serious." Elizaveta sighed and sat in her chair, sitting there for a moment.

"I'd refuse you service, but if I did, then the leader would probably get very mad at me," Elizaveta growled, before finally standing and walking over to him. Although she was quite a bit smaller than him, Alfred still shrank back in fear as she approached. Grinning, Elizaveta looked up at him with evil green eyes, the scar on her face making her appear even more intimidating. "So tell me, what's the problem."

"I just need you to look at this," Alfred replied, taking off the glove he'd put on his right hand to cover the symbol. He then showed it to her, and Elizaveta studied it for a second, before her eyes widened.

"That's...that's a _bonding_ symbol..." she murmured.

"A what?" Alfred asked, pulling his hand away sharply. He'd heard a lot about the bonding process from both his brother and Arthur, but he had no idea how it happened. He thought that maybe both of the cats had to agree to being bonded first, or had to at least go through some kind of ceremony, but apparently not. Supposedly, he'd already been bonded, without even knowing how it had happened. "But...but...how did this happen?"

"When two Hellcats form a strong bond, usually marked by one cat saving the other's life or two Cats falling in love, this mark appears on its hand. The Cats are then forever bonded as partners, and the only way to be re-bonded to another person is if one of the partners dies." The information she'd given him was all the information that Alfred needed to hear.

"Arthur..." he murmured. "It must be Arthur." Before Elizaveta could ask, Alfred was out the door and down the street, making his way to the Leader's house. He had to get to Arthur right away. He had to know if the same thing had happened to him.

Running up the steps to Arthur's house, Alfred knocked rapidly on the door. There was no response, but leaning in close to the door, Alfred could hear voices. One of the voices was crying while he was speaking, and the other was not. Alfred could immediately tell that the ones speaking were Arthur and Francis.

"I...I just can't do this," Arthur was saying. Alfred had never heard his Leader speak that way before, or cry like that. He didn't even know that a side of his personality like that even existed. "I can't do this again, Francis. I lost the last one because I was careless...what if I do it again?"

"Don't worry about it, _Borgne*_, the last one wasn't your fault at all, and you know that," Francis answered him. "Besides, Alfred would never do anything like that. He's much too strong to succumb to such a thing." For a moment, there was silence, save for the noise of Arthur's sniffles.

"I can't do it," he finally said. "I just...I can't take a chance like that again..."

"You don't have a choice _Borgne_, there's no way to reverse it. Besides, Alfred will find out eventually. He's not stupid, he'll figure it out..." For a few more moments they both were silent.

"Maybe you're right," Arthur finally sighed. "I guess I'll try it. Just to see if it works..."

"That's the _Borgne_ I remember," Francis chuckled, and Alfred could hear the sound of movement. Moving away from the door, Alfred stood out a little ways in the street and waited for Arthur and Francis to appear, before walking up to them both.

"Silver, there's something I need to—" Arthur started to say, but Alfred held up a hand for him to stop for a moment; at least, that's what it looked like. What he was really doing was showing him the marking on his right hand, and Arthur's eye widened.

"So you already figured it out?" he asked, looking down at the ground. "You know that means you're bonded for me forever. Unless you die."

"I know," Alfred replied. "And I don't mind it either." For a moment he was quiet, before taking Arthur's right hand in his own. He felt the marking on his palm, and he grinned. "Remember how I asked for a trial run, on the first day we met?" Arthur nodded slowly. "Think we could make it permanent?" Looking up from the ground, Arthur grinned.

"Of course we can."

_It was one hundred and ninety-nine years ago when Arthur officially made his first friend._

_Every day before training, Arthur would go to see Francis. He was happy to have someone to share his experiences with, to talk about the pain with, to laugh with. He had someone who understood what he was going through, and it felt great. He'd never had a bond with someone like that before._

"_I wish I had wings, Francis," Arthur said one day as they lied on a side of a hill, looking up at the sky and clouds. "Then I could fly us both out of here."_

"_I wish we both had wings," Francis replied, turning to look at the second cat. "So then you wouldn't have to do all of the work."_

"_How will I know that you'll follow me if I fly away?" Arthur replied, curling up closer to Francis._

"_I would follow you anywhere, Arthur. You're my best friend, and that will never change."_

**Meanwhile, back at ****the ranch**** home...**

"So I heard you're the leader's partner now," Matthew told Alfred as he lied on his bed, reading over a book that he'd randomly picked up. "How did you ever manage that?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Alfred asked as he sat on his bed. To be honest, the whole thing was a shock to him, and he still wasn't quite sure how the whole thing had come to pass really. It was all too far out of his reach of understanding. "Elizaveta said that it usually happened when two cats forged a deep bond, usually marked by one saving the other's life or falling in love."

"You did save his life," Matthew pointed out mildly. "But I'm not sure that love has anything to do with it, at least not with you two. With a lot of the partners it seems to be that way."

"Of course we're not in love," Alfred muttered, looking over at Matthew with narrowed eyes. "He's the Leader, and I'm just a Soldier. It wouldn't work."

"But you're bonded now," Matthew grinned, shutting the book and looking over at Alfred with a grin on his face. "So maybe that makes you more than just a Soldier." After he'd said that, Alfred went silent. He had nothing to counter Matthew's statement with.

**And then, somewhere in a laboratory...**

"So you're saying they've been bonded?" a voice asked inside of the room. For a moment, he paused, before the voice said again, "That's great. I'm sure Arthur will take good care of him. Now that they're both bonded, it should be harder for them to kidnap them." Putting down the phone, the man sighed deeply and leaned back in his seat. For the moment, Matthew and Alfred were safe. But only for the moment. As he sat there, Attilo and Jones were planning their next attack.

"We'll try again tomorrow," Jones was saying to Attilo and a group of his trusted soldiers. "This time, we're going to make sure that we get them alone. I'll be going in this time, along with Attilo. Even if it's not them we capture, we have the ability to use either Francis or Arthur as bait. As soon as they hear them squeal, they'll come running to their rescue, and then we'll trap them. Got it?" All of the soldiers nodded, and Jones turned to his twin. "Don't worry, we'll get them this time. I promise." Attilo just sighed and looked down.

"I hope you're right, brother."

[Yeah, I know how desperately short this chapter was, but it was because I had nothing for it. The next chapter, however, will be full of fun and exciting action, I assure you. Also, the first kiss scene will be coming up~ Between who? You'll just have to guess...also, _Borgne_ is French for "One-eye", although it translates directly to "one eyed."]


	8. Even In The Darkest Depths Of Hell

**Chapter Seven**

**You're Not Always Safe In Even The Darkest Depths Of Hell**

It was cold, it was dark, and it was early. Matthew's ears pricked as he lifted his head up from a certain scent he was following, tail twitching as he looked back to make sure Francis was still following him. Once that he'd been assured that the Frenchman was still behind him, he paused for a moment to let him catch up. Noticing him pausing, the Chartreux trotted up to stand beside him, tail also twitching back and forth. The pair had been assigned the task of going on four o' clock patrol the day before to check the outer border of the territory. Ever since the dogs had attacked, Arthur had been sending out bigger, larger patrols, but the four o' clock patrol stayed small, since there weren't many cats willing to walk around and potentially shoot someone that early in the morning.

As they were walking, Matthew paused as he heard a noise. Noticing him pause again, Francis flicked his ears.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, and Matthew looked over at him.

"I thought I heard something. That's all." Nodding, he and Francis continued on their way, this time a little more weary and cautious. However, nothing could prepare them for what happened next.

From the darkness of the outer woods, one snarling dog appeared. Immediately, Matthew and Francis turned to address it, also snarling as they pinned their ears flat against their skulls. As they focused on one dog, another appeared, and then another. Before they realized what was happening, they had been surrounded by a pack of dogs, and they looked at each other with confusion. Just as they were wondering whether or not to just turn back into their human forms and shoot all of them, a dark chuckling sounded from somewhere nearby. Turning, Matthew saw two men appear. He could tell that the two were brothers, maybe even twins; they both had the same height and stature and eyes, the only thing different about them was their hair. One had dark brown hair and the other had light cinnamon brown hair. They were both dressed in white lab coats, and even though he'd never been to a lab, Matthew immediately recognized who they were. Apparently, Francis recognized them as well, by the way he started growling.

"So we meet again, Francis Bonnefoy," the darker brown haired one grinned at the yellow-furred cat, who growled and snapped at him. Chuckling, he then turned his sights to Matthew, who pinned his ears back and frowned. "I think this is the first time I've seen you like this, Matthew Williams." Matthew's eyes widened as he looked at the lab-coated man.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, almost fearfully. The man just grinned evilly.

"There are some things some people just _know_," he purred, and Matthew took a step back from him. As he did, Francis took a step forward.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, taking a protective stance in front of Matthew. Although he was sure that he already knew the answer, Francis asked it anyway. He wanted it in words.

"I think you already know that," the man replied. "Hand over Matthew Williams, or else we'll be forced to take you into custody as well."

"You're no police officer!" Francis snarled, lowering his head. "And if you thought I was going to give up without a fight, you were mistaken!" All around them, the dogs started to snarl, and Matthew pressed up against Francis.

"Well then, in that case." The man looked up as he addressed the dogs. "Get them."

"Run, Matthew!" Francis ordered as the dogs lunged at them. Doing as he said, Matthew took a flying leap over the heads of the dogs, landing some ways behind them. He watched as Francis took one of the dogs head-on, before sinking his five-inch long razor sharp canines into its skull. Matthew almost winced as he heard the noise of the bones snapping, before Francis slammed its body into another dog's.

"I can't leave you Francis!" Matthew called. "I won't abandon you!"

"You have to," Francis replied, dodging another dog that lunged at him. "Just for now! You have to get back to warn Arthur and Alfred!" As Francis dropped to his stomach to dodge a dog that jumped at him, another grabbed him by the back of the neck, causing him to yowl in pain. "Just go! Get out of here!" Two of the dogs turned to Matthew, snarling, obviously ready to attack him, and the cat backed up, before turning and running off as fast as he could in the other direction. Obviously, it was fast enough, because he easily left the dogs in the dust. The last thing Francis saw before he blacked out was Matthew disappear into the darkness.

_Most definitely, his sister was beautiful._

_She had skin pale as ivory, and hair as black as night. It was long, reaching down to her back, and silky, as though it had been made out of the substance. She had dark blue eyes that shone like sapphires no matter where she was, even if there was no light to reflect off of them. She was perfect, everything about her. She could have easily have been the prettiest girl alive._

_There was nothing else in the world that Francis cared more about than his sister. She was the most precious thing in the world, the most precious jewel, the thing that he lived for. Without her, Francis would be nothing._

_He never thought that one day he'd be losing her._

"What?" Arthur exclaimed as Matthew told him the news. "He was kidnapped?"

"That's right," Matthew replied, looking down at the table. Alfred sat beside him, worriedly looking at his little brother. He'd never heard him sound so sad or so broken before. "I tried to help, but he told me to run. It was me they were looking for, but they took him."

"Probably as bait for you," Arthur murmured, putting one elbow on the table and putting his chin in his hand. "He probably thought that by capturing Francis, eventually you'd come."

"I'm going to kill them," Matthew said, voice low and growly. He looked at Arthur with burning blue eyes. "Every single one of them. I'm going to kill all of them."

"Not yet," Arthur told him, leaning over and touching Matthew's shoulder. "I know you're angry, but don't. Normally I'd let you, but you can't right now. There are still unknowns that we need to figure out. Like why they want you and your brother. I'll let you kill them after we've figured it out."

For a moment, Matthew stiffened, before relaxing and leaning up against his brother. He looked tired and sad, and Alfred put an arm around his younger brother's shoulder. "So are we going to go back and get him?" Alfred asked.

"Of course we are," Arthur replied. "But we're going to be bringing a lot of cats with us. They obviously didn't think about the fact that we might decide to bring a whole group of cats with us to save Francis, instead of just Matthew showing up again. If they had, they wouldn't have done what they did."

Nodding, Alfred looked over at Matthew with worried eyes. He noticed that the smaller cat had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and softly smiling, he ran his fingers through Matthew's caramel blonde hair. It was then he realized what happened when one cat was void of its partner; they seemed to lose all want to do anything, and their personality took a sharp downturn. Frowning, he looked up at Arthur. "We need to go right away."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Arthur murmured, eye focused on the sleeping Matthew. "We need Matthew to be able to think clearly first, so we won't be able to go until he wakes up. Take him back to his room, then come back here. We need to discuss exactly what we're going to do."

**Meanwhile, somewhere in a laboratory...**

Francis curled his lip at the dogs that sneered at him as he walked by, being pulled on a leash by one of the scientists. His proud marks of his gang had been replaced by a disgusting metal thing that was locked around his neck, and only the person who was pulling him along right now had the key to it. One of the dogs snapped at Francis, and the cat jerked his head around, then yelped as the restricting leash stopped his movement, and the scientist gave a tug on it.

"Come on now," he sighed. "You don't want to get into any more trouble, do you?" For a moment, the cat was silent, before starting to pace beside him again. Something about this whole setup just wasn't right. He had figured that Attilo and Jones would kill him right away once they brought him here, but he figured wrong. Obviously, the two wanted him alive.

Francis was led into a large cement building, and immediately, his senses and mind began to get flooded with too many bad memories. He remembered the tests, the fighting, the training, the shooting, the abuse that he suffered at the hands at the scientists. He had the impulse to try to get away, but for the moment he kept his head. If he tried to freak out and escape now, he wouldn't get far. Then, he might go to somewhere even worse than the holding pens.

After the scientist had brought him to a pen and tied the leash to a hook that sat connected to the wall and had locked the pen, the same scientist sat in front of the gate and sighed. "So now I'm supposed to watch you."

"Why are you talking to me?" Francis growled, lying down and putting his head on his paws, since there was nothing better to do. "Do you really even care? Or are you just doing it because you don't have anything else to do?"

"No, I made specially sure that I was the one who got to take you," the scientist replied. Immediately, Francis got to his feet and started snarling, and he looked like he was going to say something, but the scientist beat him to it. "Listen. My name is Ivory Jones. I have a very important thing I need to tell you; whatever you do, do _not_ repeat this to anyone else. Got it?" For a moment, Francis was silent, before he sat back on his haunches. "Alright. Here it is."

**Meanwhile, back at home...**

Alfred turned as he heard his brother groan, and he looked over at him, noticing as he turned in his bed. The cat opened one of his dark blue eyes, looking over at Alfred, before they lit up and he sat up in his bed.

"I'm ready to go," he told him suddenly. "We need to go, let's go now."

"Hold on," Alfred told him, walking over to his brother and offering him a hand. Matthew took it, and Alfred helped him to his feet. "We have to go meet the leader. Everyone's been waiting for you."

"Me?" Matthew asked, as they both left the room and started to walk out of the building. "Why?"

"Because he knew that you wanted to tear some shit up," Alfred replied, watching as the grin on his brother's face widened. "He wasn't going to leave without you."

"I knew he had a heart," Matthew grinned, before picking up his pace. "Let's go then, if everyone's waiting for me!" Immediately, the cats started to sprint full-speed ahead to the leader's house. Inside, Arthur was gathered with all of the cats from section A from Alfred and Matthew's building, and he was also with the higher-ranking cats, all of them.

"Glad you could join the party," Elizaveta growled at Alfred, and Arthur shot her a cold glare, and the agitated Ocelot pinned her ears against her head.

"What she _meant_ to say was, thank you for joining us," Arthur told them, and Alfred took his place beside him. "Here's the plan; we'll all go in at once, just to frighten them. Make it seem like that we've got some kind of backup, ready to come in once we sound the alarm. The cats from 1A and the others will cause a diversion, something to get the dog's tails in knots. Alfred, you and Matthew will go and find the holding pens where Francis is being held. Rodreich will lead you to them, but he'll only go that far before he returns to us. As soon as you've freed Francis, you can return, and we'll all fall back. You're free to kill anyone, as long as they're not Attilo or Jones." Looking at Matthew, Arthur noticed the confused look on his face. "The two scientists you met this morning were Attilo and Jones. You know what they look like. Do _not_ kill them."

"And what about _me_?" An overly-excited Sadiq called. "And Hercales? What do we do?"

"You two will be on standby. We'll call Hercales in if we have a particularly difficult situation. You, Sadiq, will be standing on guard in case we need you to run and get help." The cheetah frowned at Arthur, but he just looked at him with a glance that read _Sorry, but that's as far as you're getting._ Sighing, the cat sat on his haunches, and Arthur looked at everyone else. "Got it?" After receiving yowls of assurance from the cats, Arthur stood. "Let's go then. We can't waste any more time."

**Meanwhile, somewhere in a laboratory...**

"Sir!" a black haired scientist yelled, running through the hallways of the main building. Attilo turned at his addressing and sighed heavily.

"What is the problem?" he asked as he stopped right in front of him.

"We're being attacked!" the younger said. "Arthur and his forces are here! The plan isn't working out! They're massacring the dogs!"

"_Damnit!_" Attilo snarled, slamming his fist into the wall. Instead of stopping, it went right through the concrete, making a hole the size of his hand in the wall. The younger scientist gulped fearfully as Attilo looked down. "Get people to guard the holding pens. We can't let this slip out of our hands!"

Outside, Arthur looked over at Alfred and Matthew as they ran in. "Wait for Rodreich, he'll show you where the holding pens are." Taking out his P-90, Arthur grinned. "I'll take care of the dogs." Nodding, Alfred looked around for the black haired cat. Eventually saw him, hiding in the shadows of the building, and Alfred looked over at Matthew.

"Let's go," he told him, and the two ran over to Rodreich.

"Come with me," the black haired cat ordered, before taking off in the opposite direction. Alfred and Matthew followed until they reached a large iron gated section of the Facility. The sign read "THE HOLDING PENS." Right below it, a sign read "FOR THE ONES WHO NEVER RETURN." Alfred and Matthew exchanged knowing glances, before looking over at Rodreich.

"Thanks," Alfred thanked him. "We can take it from here." Nodding, Rodreich ran back out to re-join the fight, and Alfred took his younger brother's hand. Looking up at him, Matthew smiled one of his dangerous smiles, before pushing open the gates and running inside. Almost immediately, they were met by a force of dogs, and they both grinned, before pulling out their guns. Before the dogs could realize what was going on, both of them started firing simultaneously. Bullets fell to the ground, as did bodies, and as soon as all of the dogs were dead, blood pooling around them, Alfred and Matthew continued their mission inside.

Running in, they looked around almost cautiously. A few scientists fired their own guns at them, but the two cats easily downed them, before continuing on. Eventually, they came to a place filled with rows of pens. They checked in every one, before they came to a door that read "HIGH SECURITY."

"That must be where they're keeping him..." Matthew muttered, before looking over at Alfred. "Let's go in." Opening the door, they both cautiously walked in. Finding that there was almost no one there, they continued to walk on. These pens were much different than the ones outside; where they had been dirt-floored and had a lot of space, these ones were tiny, barely set up for a medium-sized dog to live there. There were hooks embedded into the wall, some with leashes swinging off of them. Apparently they were meant so that the shifters wouldn't be able to escape. The cages were concrete and had steel gates in front of them that were at least twelve feet high; the walls were even taller, reaching at least fourteen feet. The top of the pens were barred so the shifter couldn't escape from the top. Alfred shivered at the conditions of the place, and Matthew bit his lip, but said nothing. Eventually, they started to hear talking.

"They'll be coming any minute now," a man was saying. "To rescue you. I have no doubt of that. They won't leave you here. And if they don't come get you, I'll find a way for you to get out."

"That would be...wonderful." The voice that responded was obviously Francis's, and Matthew's ears immediately perked up.

"Francis..." he whispered, before running off in the direction of the voices. Alfred ran to catch up with him, before they finally came to where the voices were coming from. At the end of the row sat a scientist in front of a pen. Matthew's eyes focused on him, before, snarling, he took a flying leap and landed right in front of him. He bared his fangs and put one of his hands against the man's throat, pushing him up against the bars. Just as he was applying pressure to break his neck, Francis's voice sounded again.

"Mathieu! Don't kill him!" Turning his head, Matthew noticed Francis sitting there, blue eyes serious. "Don't do it. He's not like the others, it's not his fault I'm locked up here. He has nothing to do with neither Attilo nor Jones." For a moment, Matthew looked confused, before releasing the scientist. He sat there for a moment, heaving in breaths, before Matthew spoke.

"Release him," he growled. "Now. Do it." Standing up, the man pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the gate first, then went over to Francis and released the lead from his collar before taking off the collar entirely. Also from his pocket he produced Francis's beige collar and bandanna. Grinning, Francis eagerly took them, putting both around his neck, before Matthew ran up and hugged him.

"Oh, Francis," he cried, burying his face in the bigger cat's neck. "I missed you so much! I was so afraid that they'd...they'd..." tilting his head up, Francis wiped the few tears that were on Matthew's face away.

"Don't cry, _mon amour_," he told him, before tilting his chin a little to the side and leaning down, pressing his lips to Matthew's. The smaller cat instinctively wrapped his arms around Francis's neck, leaning in to the kiss. Francis let his fingers wander through Matthew's caramel blonde hair, before pulling back and whispering into Matthew's ear. The younger cat giggled and blushed, before taking Francis's hand and turning to Alfred.

"Let's get back to the leader, shall we?" He asked, a grin on his face. Nodding, Alfred started to trot out, before looking over at the scientist who'd freed them. He was lying unconscious on the floor; Alfred wondered why for a moment, before shaking his head and walking out. Maybe he'd hit his head or something.

Right as they left, two more scientists appeared. Attilo and Jones looked down and frowned as they noticed the man lying on the floor, and Attilo looked at Jones with burning green eyes. Jones said nothing, only put an arm around his brother's shoulder as he closed his eyes. They'd lost again.

**Meanwhile, back at home...**

"You did a good job today," Arthur told Alfred, watching as the other cat sat on the floor to clean out his gun and re-load it with more bullets. "Did it surprise you at all?"

"What?" Alfred asked, before realizing what Arthur meant. Grinning, he looked back down. "No. I had an idea there was something between them before I even saw them do that. It just confirmed what I'd originally thought."

Sighing softly, Arthur fell back against his bed, closing his one eye. "You know, you're welcome to stay at my house whenever you'd like."

"What's up with this revelation all of a sudden?" Alfred asked, looking up from the gun that sat on the floor.

"Well, you are my partner now," Arthur murmured. "It's kind of my obligation." Nodding, Alfred stood, putting the gun on the table that sat in one corner of the room.

"Well then, I may just stay here tonight, if that's alright. I'd rather not have to sit through whatever Francis and Matthew have planned for tonight." Letting out a soft chuckle, Alfred looked over at Arthur. "I'll get my clothes later and just sleep on the couch. Don't worry about anything."

"Yeah...sure," Arthur murmured as he curled up on the pillow. Closing his eye, the cat's breathing slowed until it had become obvious that he'd fallen asleep. Walking over to his bedside, Alfred pulled the blanket up to Arthur's shoulders, before turning off the light and walking out.

"'Night, Artie."


	9. A Nightmare In Hell

**Chapter Eight**

**A Nightmare In Hell**

-GOLD and SILVER-

_It was one-hundred and ninety-five years ago when Arthur inherited the curse of the red-eye._

_Arthur had learned of the curse from his mother when he was nine years old. She had told him that it was inherited from mother to first child, and had told Arthur he'd most likely inherit it once he turned fifteen. He hadn't believed her, but when he woke up on his fifteenth birthday, he'd found that his left eye had turned red and his pupil had become permanently dilated. The man who was training him was kind enough to give him an eyepatch, so he could hide it however. Cover up the shame and the disgust that Arthur held, now that he had this cursed eye._

"_What is that?" Francis asked when Arthur came up. "Did you hurt your eye? I thought you were fifteen today, though, shouldn't it—"_

"_It's nothing," Arthur muttered. "I'll explain later."_

_It was the first time he'd ever kept anything from Francis._

"So," Alfred said one day to Arthur as they sat in his living room. It was Sunday, a "lazy" day for the Hellcats. They didn't undertake in any missions that day, neither did any Cats in Training train. Patrols were still sent out, but any intruders or people breaking the laws were put in jail and dealt with later.

"What?" Arthur asked, looking up from the newspaper he'd been reading.

"What's the story behind your eye?" Ever since he'd met Arthur he'd wanted to know what the story behind it was. For a moment, Arthur was quiet. "If you're uncomfortably, you don't have to tell me."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just...it's a long and complicated story." Arthur explained. "I'll...tell it to you later." Nodding, Alfred sighed and leaned back against the couch, staring off into the distance, and Arthur continued to read the newspaper. They didn't know it, but this incident was the beginning of a chain reaction that would lead up to a huge turning point in their lives, and the very future of the Hellcats.

WINE and SHOTGUN

Meanwhile, in Room 2, Section A, Building 1, a certain Italian cat was having a dream.

**Feliciano looked around as he stood up in a strange field that he'd never seen before. There were no scents all around him, and the whole field was pure white. The grass was soft as kitten fur, and there appeared to be no sky or clouds, just pale blankness overhead. Looking around, Feliciano's ears swiveled around nervously. Just as he was preparing to call out, a voice sounded.**

"**Feliciano Vargas." Feliciano turned as he heard his name being called. Standing in the middle of the field was a gold and white furred, lioness-sized she-cat with big golden wings, almost as truly gold as the substance itself. She was standing there with a kind smile on her face, and Feliciano's ears pricked forward.**

"**Who are you?" he asked as the cat came closer. "How do you know my name?"**

"**I know that you don't know me," she spoke again as she came closer. "But I know you very well, and I'm much closer to you than you think I am." Standing up on her hind legs, she put her paws on Feliciano's shoulders, looking him in the eye with her dark blue ones. "My name is Maria. Something very important is about to happen to your gang in a few months. It's a big secret though, a secret you'll need to carry." For a moment, Feliciano was silent, before a smile too crossed his face and his eyes brightened.**

"**I can carry secrets!" he exclaimed. "I'm the best at doing it out of all of the cats in my section!"**

"**That's good," Maria said. "Now listen, I'm going to be placing a huge burden on your shoulders. In return, you can ask me to do anything for you at anytime you want me to. I can do anything, all you have to do is ask."**

"**Okay," Feliciano agreed, before smiling wider and closing his eyes. "I'm ready for the secret!"**

Feliciano wasn't the only cat in that room to be having a dream.

On his bed on the other side of the room, Ludwig too was having a dream, but it was nothing like the one that Feliciano was having. This wasn't even a dream, it was most definitely a _nightmare._

**Ludwig struggled helplessly against the tough current. He could tell that he was under the water in this dream, being swept along in what felt like a river. No matter how hard he tried to swim against it, he couldn't. He was suffocating in this river, lungs burning for air. Just as he was getting ready to give up, the river disappeared and a voice sounded from somewhere he couldn't see.**

"**This is your fate!" the voice called as Ludwig stood. It was then that he began to notice the setting he was now in. Everything was up in flames. Coughing, Ludwig shook his head to try to rid his lungs of smoke, but every time he moved somewhere where the smoke was low, more flooded in, trying to choke him. "This is the fate that you and your gang shall suffer!"**

"**No!" he cried, coughing and shaking his head. Looking up with hazy blue eyes, Ludwig looked for some way out of this, any way that he could possibly escape...**

"**This is the fate you will suffer...suffer...suffer..." the voice repeated over and over, and Ludwig continued to cry out, until he gave one last final scream of;**

"**No!" **

Ludwig suddenly awoke with a start, and noticed that he was on the floor now. He must have fallen out of bed with all of the twisting and writhing that he was doing. Standing up, Ludwig noticed that Feliciano was still asleep, despite the loud scream that he'd given. Every once and a while, he'd notice Feliciano's ears twitch, and he'd let out a soft sigh and move in his sleep. Walking over to him, Ludwig stroked the Italian's soft hair, letting a smile break across his face as Feliciano grinned in his sleep, burying his face in his pillow.

"Sleep well, _meine Liebe_."

SMILE and JOKER

"Does it ever feel like, sometimes, things are going to change drastically?" Matthew asked Francis as he lied on his bed, head resting on his arms. The second cat, who had been sitting in a chair next to him, turned to look at the smaller cat.

"I don't know," Francis replied. "My sense of foreshadowing isn't very good. You seem to know about these things, though, _sourire_, so why don't you just tell me if something feels like it's about to change?"

For a moment, Matthew was silent, before moving his arms and lying his head flat on the pillow. "I think things are going to change drastically for us. It feels like something big is about to happen." Both of them fell silent after Matthew spoke, and Francis finally broke the silence with a sigh.

"Well, then, if that's the truth, we'll just have to make the most of what we have now." Getting up, he climbed onto the bed and lied beside Matthew, wrapping an arm around his waist and burying his face into the crook of his neck. He smelled of lavender and white roses, and Francis smiled, hugging the smaller cat closer to his body. "_Je t'aime_ Mathieu. From now until the end." Smiling, Matthew turned so that he could lean his head on Francis's chest. "There never will _be_ an end, Joker. Our story will go on forever." CLOVER and RUNNER Hercales was staring off into space again. He'd completely zoned out and focused on something far away, out of Sadiq's grip, and the cat frowned, nudging Hercales to get his attention. The cat jumped a little and tensed his muscles, before relaxing when noticing that it was just his partner. Sighing, Hercales flicked his ears in dissatisfaction. "You went all stare-y on me again," Sadiq frowned, tail twitching. "I don't like it when you do that. It frightens me." Hercales just sighed, tilting his head as he stared at the cat sitting next to him. The cat sure loved to be the center of attention when he was with other people, not at all like Hercales, who preferred solitude. He was so different than him, yet perfect for his purpose as his partner. "Fine. I won't do it again." Leaning against Sadiq's shoulder, Hercales looked up at his face, grinning as he spotted those dark brown eyes under the shadows his mask cast on them. "Since it _frightens_ you." Grinning, Sadiq looked down, pressing his nose up against Hercales's, tail twitching like an excited kitten's. "It's because you love me, isn't it? Clover loves me?" "...Clover loves you," Hercales finally replied. "Clover loves Runner." "I like that," Sadiq purred. "That makes me happy." _As long as Runner is happy, I'm happy. There is a light in my life._ DOG and WOLF They were determined to keep this relationship a secret, no matter what it took. Gilbert smiled as he let his cheek brush up against Ivan's, putting his arm around the bigger cat's shoulders. This was it, their secret meeting place, behind the training facility, where no one else ever went. Their secret getaway, their secret love place, somewhere for just the two of them. "Ivan..." Gilbert murmured, leaning up and just barely pressing his lips to the Russian's in a soft kiss. "_Ich liebe dich_." Pulling him closer, Ivan completed the kiss, before pulling back and smiling down at Gilbert. "_Ya lyublyu tebya, moya sobaka_," Ivan replied, nibbling gently at the snow leopard's soft, rounded ear. "Shall we continue where we left off last night, my love?" The other didn't answer, just grinned and leaned up to kiss him again. He took that as a yes. GOLD and SILVER _It was one-hundred and ninety years ago when Arthur used his cursed eye for the first time._ _Back then, it wasn't hard to recognize that Arthur was a troubled kid. The other cats at the school the Facility sent him to picked on him, not just because of the fact that he was a mutant cat shifter, but also because of his eyepatch, that cursed eye that he hid under it. They would call him "one-eye" and tug on it, saying things like "Show us what's under there!" "What are you hiding, freak?", or even worse things, like "It's probably some sort of contagious disease!" "Stay away from me!" and of course, "Freak!" which was the worst. Eventually, Arthur had had enough._ "_Just stay AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed, turning to a group of kids that had been following him. Before he even really knew what happened, the eyepatch slipped down off of his eye, and he was focusing on the kids. Almost immediately, Arthur could almost feel the effects of his power taking place, and suddenly, their bodies were exploding, blood and organs and tissue and bones flying everywhere. It was gruesome, as Arthur stood there, just covered in blood. It wasn't long before an adult found him and screeched in fear._ _The rest of what happened was mostly a blur. He remembered scientists arguing about him, and his trainer talking to the principal of the school._ "_He's still undergoing testing," he told the him. "He's just a little unstable. I promise, nothing like this will ever happen again. Just let him keep coming for a little while until we get this little kink straightened out..." The principal refused to re-accept him unless the eye was removed. Of course, the scientists didn't want to do that, so they lied and said that they'd had it removed. Arthur was forced to keep wearing the eyepatch._ _After that day, no one ever teased him again, or even talked to him really. The only one who did was Francis._ "_Why?" he asked him one day after school was over. "Why do things like this happen to me? Why did I kill them? I didn't do anything to deserve this, I didn't even know I did it..." the young cat started to sob freely, putting his head on Francis's shoulder as his shoulders shook with the intensity of his sobs._ "_It's not your fault," he told him, stroking Arthur's blonde hair. "Don't beat yourself up over it. They deserved it in my opinion."_ _It was that day that Arthur decided never to use his eye ever again, unless it was absolutely necessary._ He hadn't ever used it since that day. Sighing, Arthur laid his eyepatch on the table next to him, lying in his bed and pulling the blankets up to his chest. Should he really tell Alfred about the origin of the eye? Or should he keep it a secret? As he fell asleep, Arthur decided the best thing to do would be to share it. There wasn't any reason to keep it from his partner.

[For those of you who are sitting at their computer screens, scratching their heads, wondering what just happened, I do have an explanation. The style of the story has changed just a little bit to help me out with the chapters for the rest of the story. It is essential they be styled like this. Also, the sections that are in this chapter have MAJOR impacts on the rest of the story. I won't tell you what happens, but...just know some majorly scary and strange things are about to start happening. Also, translations!

_meine Liebe-_ German for "my love".

_sourire-_ French for "smile".

_Ich liebe dich- _German for "I love you".

_Ya lyublyu tebya, moya sobaka-_ Russian for "I love you, my dog."]


	10. Strange Things Happen In Hell

Chapter Nine

Strange Things Happen In Hell

[WARNING: Ahead there will be some pretty heavy yaoi sex. If you don't like it, just skip past the Dog and Wolf section and go to the next one.]

DOG and WOLF

Somewhere, in a room, Ivan and Gilbert were definitely getting it on.

"_Ivan_," Gilbert purred almost chidingly as the bigger cat ran his slightly barbed tongue over a sensitive spot in his neck, causing his back to arch as he pressed his chest up to the Russian's. "You're so _naughty_..."

"I know that you like it though," the cat responded, leaning farther down and pushing Gilbert up against the bed. The white-haired cat blushed slightly as his and Ivan's lips met in a heated kiss, as the Russian's hands moved to take off his coat. Letting out a muffled moan, Gilbert pressed his heated body up against Ivan's, wrapping his arms around his back. Breaking the kiss for just a moment, the Russian let his hands wander up Gilbert's t-shirt, and the smaller cat let out a soft squeak of surprise as he felt his cold hands touch his warm body. The feeling was pleasuring to him, however, and Gilbert moaned again, slightly tilting his head back and letting Ivan kiss and nip at the spots that he knew were sensitive.

Letting out soft gasps every time he touched a nerve, Gilbert let Ivan know which places were better and which place's weren't. The white-haired cat let out a loud groan when he touched a particularly sensitive place, and he looked up at Ivan with hazy red eyes."You fucking tease," he breathed, leaning up so he could lean in closer to the Russian's ear. "I want you now!"

"You are impatient, _snezhnyĭ bars_," Ivan grinned, gently nibbling on Gilbert's rounded ears. "Just relax, I'll get you there." Finally pulling Gilbert's shirt off over his head, Ivan leaned back for a moment, removing his own coat and shirt as well, so they were equal, before he returned to passionately kissing the second. He let his tongue brush up against Gilbert's lips as one of his hands wandered down to the other's jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling down the zipper. The second dropped his jaw, allowing for Ivan to further explore his mouth, which he did, all the while still moving his hand down to pull off Gilbert's jeans. Once he'd abandoned them off the side of the bed, he reached down under Gilbert's boxers, only ever so lightly touching his lover's erection.

The second cat let out hurried gasps and moans at Ivan's cold touch on his warm place, and he curled his toes and tilted his head back once the Russian broke the kiss."I-Iva-n-ngh..." he started to say, before the second put his free hand on his lips and pushed them into his mouth. Knowing what he wanted, the snow leopard started to suck almost teasingly on the Russian's fingers, as he continued to rub his erection teasingly as well. Leaning down, Ivan eventually took the underwear off completely and let his tongue run across it, and Gilbert squeaked and moaned around his fingers. Knowing that he liked it, Ivan continued to lick and tease him until finally taking all of him in his mouth, and Gilbert gasped, gripping Ivan's silver-gray hair with one hand. The Russian was starting to push him towards the edge, towards the climax, but he knew he wouldn't let him get there until they were both ready.

"Feels good," he groaned when Ivan removed his fingers. "Don't stop..." Gilbert's blush started to deepen until his face was almost as red as his eyes, and then Ivan gently inserted one of his saliva-coated fingers into his lover's opening. The first time they did it, Gilbert had been tense and it had hurt, but this time he was relaxed and all he felt were shockwaves of pleasure running up his spine. Letting out a groan, he gripped the bed sheets with his free hand and pushed Ivan's head down a little with the other."_Ivan_," Gilbert breathed again as he inserted another finger, touching only one of the sensitive spots that were there. By now, the Russian knew exactly where each of these spots were, and there was no fooling him. He knew exactly how to press the snow leopard's buttons.

Eventually, after inserting the last finger, Ivan pulled out and removed his mouth from around Gilbert's erection, before letting his lips brush up against the other's reddening cheeks. "Do you want it?" he asked, leading the second cat's hand to the buttons and zipper on his pants.

"I want it," he replied, unbuttoning the first two buttons. "I want it, I want you _now_..." he moaned, before pulling down the zipper and removing the pants from around Ivan's waist, pushing them off of him and abandoning them by the side of the bed where his lover's jeans had been thrown. Gilbert hurried to remove the Russian's boxers, before leaning up and kissing him again. Pressing Gilbert up against the back of the bed, Ivan ever so gently inserted himself into his lover, earning muffled moans and groans from him. Gilbert's hands moved up to grip around the bigger cat's shoulders, a mix of moans and purrs leaving his throat.

"Faster," he moaned as Ivan buried his face into the nape of his lover's sweaty shoulder. "I want it faster..." obeying his wishes, Ivan gave an experimental thrust, and Gilbert tilted his head back and _purred_, eyes closed in ecstasy as he pressed his hips up closer to Ivan's. Again, the Russian continued to thrust into his lover's body, before he hit that special spot, the spot that made the second cat let out a mix between a moan and a yell and grip his shoulders tightly.

"There, hit it again," he gasped, and the cat obeyed again, pulling back and thrusting in, hitting it harder this time and causing him to nearly break out in a yowl. From then on, when he tried to speak, the only thing that came out were a jumbled mix of words, vowels and moans. It was a sign, and Ivan knew that Gilbert was getting close to his climax."I-Ivan," he finally gasped out. "I'm going to—"

"I know," the Russian purred, reaching down with his free hand and gripping Gilbert's still-throbbing erection, rubbing against it ever so slightly, trying to push the second over the edge. "So am I." The snow leopard let out an excited mewl as he felt Ivan's hand, and then that mewl melted into a moan as tingles of electricity ran up his spine.

Eventually, Gilbert could hold it back no more and threw his head back, calling out his lover's name as he came, before Ivan did the same, letting out a low groan when he was finished. Panting, both of them lied on the bed next to each other, and Ivan removed himself from the smaller cat's body. For a moment, they both lied there, just looking at each other, before Gilbert grinned and cuddled up next to Ivan's chest.

"Wanna go again?" he purred suggestively. The smile the Russian gave him told him everything he needed to know.

GOLD and SILVER

_It was one-hundred and eighty-five years ago when Arthur took on the role as a father figure._

_New Hellcats, as the breed was coming to be called, didn't come in very often to the Facility. It was very, very hard to breed one, despite the fact that both males and females had the ability to carry. You had to wait for a cat to bond to another cat, and then wait even longer for one of them to go into heat. Even if they went into heat, there was only a fifty percent chance they'd conceive. Naturally, when Arthur saw the fuzzy new cheetah cubs, he knew something extraordinary had to have taken place__._

_He'd heard that the cub's mothers had died almost immediately after their birth, and now, three years later, their father had died of a reoccurring illness the scientists probably gave him. Now there was no one to raise the cubs, or so they thought. No one expected Arthur to take in the three year olds._

_"Where's my daddy?" the younger, but bigger one asked. "I want my daddy!"_

_"Your daddy isn't here," Arthur explained to him as he lied in his pen with the two cubs. "He had to go away for a while."_

_"When will he be back?" the cub asked again. For a moment, Arthur was quiet, before looking down._

_"I don't think he'll ever be back, little one." The cub sniffled and curled up next to Arthur, burying his face in his golden fur._

_"Will you be my daddy?" he asked, looking up at Arthur with wide brown eyes._

_"Of course I will," the lynx replied, and for the first time in a while, a smile broke across his face._

"I've decided," Arthur started to tell Alfred one day. "To tell you the story about my eye. If you want to hear it, though, you'll have to come with me." Of course, Alfred was interested to hear this story, and he trotted out with Arthur to a darker, dimly-lit part of the city. A piece of car metal sat, leaning against a wall, and Alfred tilted his head curiously at it. His attention went to Arthur, though, as soon as he started to speak.

"I don't really have one eye," Arthur started off saying. "I use this eyepatch to cover up my red eye. It's a curse that started with my great-grandmother. When her mother was pregnant with her, an angry witch cursed her unborn cub with a dark power. When she was born, she was perfectly normal, and her mother thought that the old witch had been nothing more than a crazy, barren old woman, wishing bad luck on a young mother. However, when the cub turned fifteen, the eye appeared. At first, she didn't really care about it, until one day when she got angry with her father. No one knows how it works, but somehow the power of the eye causes one's insides to twist around each other, before they explode, leaving nothing but blood and gore behind. Scared and ashamed, she escaped into the mountains, not wanting to come back and face the rest of her village. From that day forward, my family lived high in the mountains, where they couldn't harm anyone with their power. The eye is passed from mother to first child." Alfred was staring at him with wide eyes, and the lynx sighed. "Here, let me show you." Arthur took off his eyepatch and turned to the piece of car metal that was lying next to the wall. After focusing intently on it for a few seconds, the metal twisted all around itself with an angry screech, before chunks of metal flew everywhere.

"Oh...oh wow..." Alfred murmured, looking at the pieces of metal everywhere. "S-so how did you find out...how it worked?" he was almost afraid to hear the answer, but he asked anyway.

"When I was younger, I used to get picked on a lot because I was a shifter," he replied. "One day, a group of kids was following me around, being particularly nasty, and I got fed up with them. I accidentally killed all of them." Looking down, Arthur pinned his ears back against his skull. "I haven't used the eye since then. It's an inhumane way for anyone to die."

"I see," Alfred murmured, before walking over and putting his arms around Arthur. For a moment, the cat stiffened, not sure of what was going on, before her realized that Alfred was hugging him, and he relaxed, putting his arms around Alfred to return the hug. "I never knew things were like that for you. It must have been tough."

Nodding, a soft blush crossed Arthur's face as Alfred pulled back. "Thank you," he sighed softly. "For understanding. I was afraid you wouldn't...I was afraid you'd..."

"Be scared of you?" Alfred finished for him, and the second cat nodded. "Why would I be scared of you? You haven't used it since then, have you? And besides, I know that you would never hurt me." He said it with such certainty and belief that it seemed almost naive, but Arthur let it go. He was right; he would never do anything to hurt his partner. Not after how he lost the last one.

WINE and SHOTGUN

"Hey, Feli," Ludwig asked Feliciano one day after they'd returned from a patrol. "Are you doing okay today? You looked less distracted than usual on your rounds today." The cat sounded genuinely worried, and the Italian knew why. Usually, on patrols, Feliciano was very talkative and wanted to explore everything, smell all of the scents and chase after whatever random street animal crossed their path. However, today, he'd been unnaturally silent and pretty much stayed by Ludwig's side the whole time, not bothering to speak.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," the Italian reassured him, smiling. "I was just thinking about what someone said to me, that's all."

"You know, if something's bothering you, you can just come to me about it," Ludwig murmured, standing up and going over to Feliciano. "I...don't want you to feel like I don't care about you.

"I never feel that way though," Feliciano protested. "Because I know that you love me!" Hugging the German, Feliciano looked up with shining caramel brown eyes. "Right, Ludi?" Giving one of his rare, but true smiles, Ludwig ran a hand through Feliciano's reddish-brown hair.

"That's right."

FLOWER and SCAR

"I hate this!" Elizaveta snarled to Lilli one day as she lay on her bed. "Every day they grow closer and closer and there seems to be nothing I can do to stop it! Gah, our Leader sometimes! Am I the only one who sees the pitiful street creature walking around down here?"

"I don't think he's a pitiful street creature," Lilli replied as she put some things away in a top cabinet. "I think he's okay. Besides, he makes the Leader really happy. A lot of people can't tell, but I can."

"Tch." Elizaveta rested her head on the couch and sighed heavily.

"A lot of people can't tell that I make you happy, but I do. I can see it." Smiling, Lilli sat next to the bigger cat on the couch. "I make you happy. You're much happier now than you were before I came here." Resting her head on Elizaveta's chest, Lilli sighed. "Maybe it's time you let it go."

The brown haired cat said nothing to counter Lilli's statement, just flicked her tail and half-closed her green eyes. It was enough for the second cat.

CLOVER and RUNNER

_Hercales had definitely changed from when he was younger. His early experiences with his parents shaped his mentality, and when he got older and the scientists tested on him, it only further handicapped his personality. Hercales had no sense of right and wrong, or what was socially correct or incorrect. Worst of all, he had no one who was willing to teach him. Most of the cats who saw him shrank away in fear, afraid to get to close to him or even say their names around him. They knew what he could do and it scared them._

_All of them except one._

_"My name is Sadiq Annan!" the kitten introduced himself one day. "Why don't you play with me?"_

_"What?" Hercales asked the other kitten. They were around the same age, he could tell, but Sadiq was definitely bigger than him at the moment. "What is...play?"_

_"You've never played before?" the cheetah cub laughed, tail twitching back and forth. "Well I guess I'll just have to teach you then! I'll teach you my favorite game!" On that day, Hercales learned how to play tag. Even more important, he found a friend, someone who cared for him and didn't shrink away at the sight of him. Although this other kitten was strange and did things he sometimes didn't understand, Hercales played along._

_From that day on, Clover loved Runner._

**Meanwhile, in a laboratory...**

Things were starting to get desperate for Jones and Attilo. Even though it hadn't been that long since they attacked, they were starting to get antsy. Both of them desperately wanted the two cats in their possession, and they made no attempt to cover that up.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, brother," Jones told Attilo one day. "Perhaps it's time that we used our last resort."

"What do you mean?" Attilo asked, and then, once he saw the evil grin on his brother's face, one stretched across his own. "Oh. You mean The Loyals then, hmm?"

"Yes," Jones chuckled as he looked at Attilo's knowing expression. "It will be perfect!"

Standing outside of the door where they were talking, the scientist's face turned to a frown. No. They couldn't call in those possessed, demonic cats yet, not at a time like this...it was too close to the prophesied time, it couldn't happen like this! However, it was just about to.

The Loyals were coming in.

[*_snezhnyĭ bars_ - snow leopard]


	11. Always Expect The Unexpected In Hell

Chapter Ten

Always Expect The Unexpected In Hell

SWORD and SHIELD

_It had been two hundred and fifty hears since the day Yao and Kiku first met each other. Kiku remembered him well; the Dragon Li cat had been suffering from kennel stress* when he first arrived. Whenever a scientist tried to approach him, the cat would lie flat on his belly and shiver, sometimes growling at the other cats and people. When Kiku approached, however, his brown eyes lit up and he stood. For a while, Kiku had been looking for a partner, but he hadn't found anyone suitable; however, when that Dragon Li, afflicted with kennel stress stood up and meowed, Kiku knew he'd finally found what he'd been searching for._

_They officially bonded only two weeks after they met. From the moment Yao and Kiku met each other, they were inseparable. Although their pens were quite far away from each other, one would often sneak out of his pen and go to the other's. Their love and dedication for one another was so strong that even the normally stoic scientists smiled a little when they saw the two cats cuddle together on cold nights. Through the two-hundred and forty-five years they were there, they didn't lose any of that love or dedication. Yao and Kiku, the Sword and Shield, were the epitome of what a partnership should be._

None of that love had gone away since they had joined the gang; if anything, their bond had grown stronger. Although they no longer had to sneak out of their pens at night, or even train together anymore, they always went on missions together. They were still inseparable; one was rarely ever seen without the other.

"Yao," Kiku murmured one night, resting his head against the other's chest. "_Watashi wa anata o aishite.*_"

"_Wǒ yě ài nǐ*,_" Yao answered him, gently putting his arms around Kiku's shoulders and kissing the tip of his fluffy ear. "Happy 250th anniversary."

GOLD and SILVER, WINE and SHOTGUN

Feliciano had been waiting for six weeks now to tell his secret. He had to wait until Maria gave him the okay, and then he went to the Leader and Alfred to speak to them.

"There's something very important I need to talk to you about," Feliciano told them as they sat at the table in Arthur's kitchen. "About six weeks ago, I got a dream from an angel. She told me that her name was Maria and she had something very important to tell me, a big secret. Last night, she visited me again, saying that now was the time to tell you guys about it. Now, here's what she said..."

After Feliciano had finished delivering his message, both Alfred and Arthur were wide-eyed and staring.

"And you're absolutely positive that this is going to happen?" Arthur asked. Feliciano nodded rapidly.

"I wouldn't lie to you. I'm sure it's true."

"Something like that hasn't happened in a long time..." Arthur murmured. "The last confirmed case was a cat from Africa, and he was born three hundred and twenty-five years ago. It's possible, but it's highly unlikely. And you're saying we're going to have to protect him until it happens?"

"Yes," Feliciano replied. "The Loyals, too, will be searching for him. They have their own beliefs about what this means and they want it for themselves. They believe that it's the sign that their king is coming, and they'll try to use him as a gift offering to him. At least, that's what Maria told me."

"Alright. You may go now, Wine." As he stood to leave, Arthur suddenly called out, "Wait!" Pausing, Feliciano turned to look at him. "What...what did you wish for?"

"I wished for all of us to come out safely," he replied, closing his eyes and smiling. "And that's it!"

When he returned to 1A, Feliciano gave a yawn and started off towards his room. He'd been talking with the Leader for quite some time; it was already 11:00, and he'd left at 7. As soon as he opened the door, he was met by Ludwig, who looked down at him.

"You're back," he murmured. "You were gone for quite some time, Feli. What exactly where you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Feliciano replied innocently. "Just gang business, that's all." Ludwig still looked unsatisfied, but he leaned down to hug the Italian anyway.

"Alright. I'm off to go see Scar for a minute, but I'll be back soon."

"I'll wait for you," Feliciano told him, before breaking away and stepping into the bedroom. It hurt him to keep it from Ludwig, but it wasn't time for him to know yet. If he found out now, there'd be no telling what he'd do.

"I'm sorry I have to keep this from you Ludi," Feliciano murmured to the air. "But it's not time for you to know yet."

"So you believe him?" Alfred asked his partner that night.

"Of course I do," Arthur replied. "Feliciano wouldn't lie to me about something so serious. Besides, what reason do I have not to believe him?" Shrugging off his jacket, Arthur threw it on the couch, before getting up, the tags on his collar quietly jingling as he stood.

"Well if it is true, don't you think we should prepare for the Loyals to attack?" Alfred suggested.

"No," he replied. "If we do that, then they'll think we're afraid of them and they'll bring lots of soldiers. The only thing we have to do is show them how serious we are about protecting our territory."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Alfred asked curiously.

"...you'll see as soon as we get some prisoners."

**Meanwhile, in a laboratory...**

"So, Sundita," Jones was saying to a red-haired cat shifter. "Are you willing to help us with this little...problem?"

"Of course I am," Sundita grinned, flashing his deadly metal teeth. "However, I only ask for one thing in return. There is a certain shifter that we must take into our possession. He is needed to complete our ritual to welcome our sacred Leader into our presence."

"As long as it's not either Alfred or Matthew, you're fine to kidnap, sacrifice, kill, rob, or do anything to anyone that you'd like," Jones told him. "The money will arrive after you finish your first raid. Thank you for your services."

Again, the scientist who sat outside of the door's eyes widened. He had to warn the Hellcats in person somehow, without getting killed. That would turn out to be much easier said than done.

DOG and WOLF

This was the fifth time Gilbert had gotten sick that day. Currently he was bent over the toilet, emptying his stomach of anything he'd eaten that day. Ivan sat next to him, gently rubbing his back and shoulders. Eventually the wave of sickness passed and Gilbert wiped his mouth off with a towel before flushing and leaning against Ivan.

"I don't think this is just a bug, _snezhnyĭ bars_," Ivan murmured, gently stroking his soft white hair. "Maybe you should go to see Scar..."

"Not...not yet," Gilbert murmured, sighing as he rested his head in Ivan's lap. The Russian rubbed gentle circles on the snow leopard's stomach to ease the feeling of sickness.

"The next time you get sick I'm taking you to see her," Ivan told him. Gilbert didn't argue, he just closed his tired red eyes and started to drift off to sleep. Sighing, Ivan picked up the sleeping cat from the floor and took him to his bed, hoping that tonight the snow leopard would be able to get some sleep.

However, it was not to be done. Not thirty minutes later, the cat groaned in his sleep, before waking up suddenly and running to the bathroom again. Giving a heavy sigh, Ivan got up and followed him, watching as he leaned over the toilet again, continuing to vomit. As soon as it was over, Gilbert looked up at Ivan with sickly eyes, and the Russian tiger pulled him into his arms.

"You're definitely going to see Scar now." The smaller cat just let out a soft huff of disapproval, before his head fell against Ivan's chest and he promptly went back to sleep.

FLOWER and SCAR, DOG and WOLF

It was 12:00, midnight, and the Healer's Den was still open. The only reason for this was because Elizaveta couldn't sleep. No matter what she did to try and get to sleep, it only made her even more energized. On this particular night, that may have been a good thing, considering what happened.

Hearing the knock at her door, Elizaveta jumped up from where she'd been sitting on the couch and went over quickly to it. Opening the door, she noticed Ivan standing there with Gilbert in his arms, passed out, body limp and tail twitching ever so often.

"Good evening Wolf," she greeted, letting the bigger cat in. "What's the matter with him?"

"That's what I came to you for," Ivan murmured, gently resting Gilbert down on the couch. "He's been really sick lately, but I don't know what's wrong with him. He just keeps throwing up, and he complains of nausea whenever he eats something. Because of that he hasn't been eating very much..."

"Huh," Elizaveta murmured, looking down at Gilbert, who whined a little and turned on his side. "Does he have a fever?"

"He's been slightly warmer than usual, but nothing drastic," Ivan replied, sitting on the couch at Gilbert's feet. "Why?"

"Just asking. Has he gained any weight?" Elizaveta asked.

"I don't think so," Ivan replied. "But he might have. I heard him talking about it not too long ago..."

"How long have these symptoms been going on?" she asked again, pressing her hand to Gilbert's forehead. Sensing that his temperature was normal, she pulled her hand back.

"About two weeks," Ivan replied. "Do you have any idea about what it could be?"

"Yes," Elizaveta murmured. "But we'll have to wait for Gilbert to wake up before I can figure it out." Just as she was saying that, the snow leopard opened his blood red eyes and sat up.

"What am I doing here?" He asked, blinking his tired eyes and yawning.

"I told you the next time you got sick I was taking you to see Scar. I didn't lie," Ivan murmured. "She was just about to figure out what was wrong with you."

"Tell me," Elizaveta started to say, moving to sit on Gilbert's other side. "Have you gained any weight recently?"

"A little," Gilbert replied, gently rubbing his stomach. "I don't know why though."

"Alright, two more questions. First off, tell me if this hurts." She gently pressed on a certain spot on Gilbert's stomach, and he frowned, pushing her hand away.

"That hurts," he whimpered, and Elizaveta took a step back.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I barely touched you!"

"I-I'm sure," he murmured, voice unnaturally high and fearful. "What's wrong with me?"

"I need to ask one more thing to confirm it," Elizaveta told him. "Tell me, did you have a heightened want for sexual activity any time in the past two months?" Now that he thought about it, he had. It had been a very strong and unnatural urge for sex, but he hadn't thought about it until now.

"Yes," he replied uncertainly. "Why?"

For a moment, Elizaveta was silent, before falling back on the floor. "If...if all of that's true...then..."

"Then what?" Ivan growled dangerously at her. "Spit it out!"

"Then Gilbert is pregnant," Elizaveta replied. Just as she was getting up, Lilli appeared in the doorway, looking somewhat concerned.

"Are you okay Eliza?" she asked.

"Lilli, I need you to run and get the Leader and Silver as fast as you can," Elizaveta told her. "Tell them we have a situation."

GOLD, FLOWER, DOG, SILVER, SCAR, AND WOLF

"So what Feliciano told us was true," Arthur murmured, sitting on the floor in front of Elizaveta's couch. Gilbert was sitting with his head in his hands, tears rolling down his cheeks, and Ivan had one arm across Gilbert's shoulders. Lilli was standing, watching Elizaveta who was pacing the carpet. Alfred sat next to him, a confused look on his face.

"What does Feliciano have to do with any of this?" Ivan asked, looking up from his lover.

"He told us that this was going to happen earlier today actually," Arthur told them. "He'd said that an angel had come to him in a dream and told him all about it. Supposedly, the birth of your kid is a sign that the gang will become invincible. It's also supposed to symbolize the shutting down of the Facility and the beginning of a new era," he started to explain. "However, the Loyals are out for it as well. According to their books written down by their previous leaders, their god that they believe in is supposed to come down to receive the child of two male cats from this very gang. Due to this, both Gilbert and the child are in very serious danger. The rest of us are supposed to protect them both until it's born; after that, the Loyals are supposed to fall apart."

"So we have to protect him until it's born, and then afterwards, all our troubles will be gone?" Elizaveta asked. "It all seems like bullshit to me, if you ask."

"Well, the first part of his prophecy came true," Alfred countered. "Obviously, there has to be at least _some_ truth in what he's saying."

"I agree," Lilli murmured. "But I think that ultimately, it's Dog and Wolf's choice. They're the ones who are the parents, after all."

Ivan gently nudged Gilbert, who finally took his face out of his hands and looked up, a few tears still glistening in his eyes and tear streaks running down his face. "Gil?" he asked. "Is this...what you want?"

"Ivan, I don't mind, really," he told him, sniffling in between his words. "It's just...now is really a terrible time to be expecting a baby and...you know how much my bruder hates us being together...when he finds out, I'm sure he'll be angry." Then, a smile cut across his face. "But...this is still our baby. And apparently, he's needed. I could never live with myself if I killed our own kid, so...I'll keep it." Leaning up against Ivan's shoulder, Gilbert looked up at him. "I'm happy to be having our baby."

And, suddenly, the course of their lives had taken a strange new turn.

[* kennel stress- categorized when an animal, normally a dog, develops compulsive behaviors due to being kenneled for a long period of time.

*_ Watashi wa anata o aishite-_ I love you in Japanese

* _Wǒ yě ài nǐ-_I love you, too in traditional Chinese

_Sundita Madhav Singh-_an Indian-Irish Loyal, Sundita rules the Loyals with an iron fist. He has red hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He also has metal teeth. Sundita is a crazed follower of the fictional god he and the rest of the Loyals worship, a god named "Sundara." Supposedly he is supposed to come in the form of a young boy. Sundita is highly dangerous and good at what he does; he rivals Arthur in ruthlessness.]


	12. In Hell There Are People More Ruthless

Chapter Eleven

Even In Hell, There Are People More Ruthless Than You

DOG, WINE, WOLF, and SHOTGUN

Naturally, Ludwig flipped absolute shit when he found out the next day. For almost an hour he paced back and forth around his brother's room, yelling and cursing at him in a mix of German and English, and all the while Gilbert sat there, ears pinned back against his head, red eyes looking down at the floor. Eventually, Ludwig had nothing more to say, and he sat on the bed next to Gilbert, tail still lashing furiously. Eventually, Gilbert turned his head to Ludwig.

"You know, I'm keeping the baby," he murmured softly. "I don't know if anyone told you that already or not."

"I figured you would," Ludwig replied, sighing heavily. "And I probably would have yelled at you longer if you hadn't, to be honest."

When Ludwig spoke with Ivan that morning when the tiger came for Gilbert, he reacted almost the same way. Although he had to have been at least a foot taller than him, the German Rex grabbed him by his scarf and pulled his face down to eye level.

"Now listen," he growled, keeping one hand firmly on the Russian's neckpiece and the other around his throat. "If I hear that you're treating my bruder with anything less than absolute kindness and understanding, I'll do things to you that are unspeakable. Got it?" The bigger cat nodded in fear, and Ludwig dropped him, before walking briskly back to his room where Feliciano sat, looking a little sad.

"Why didn't you tell me?" the German finally asked him, and Feliciano looked up at him with sad brown eyes.

"I couldn't," he replied. "I-I mean...I wasn't allowed. Maria told me that if you found out anytime earlier than today there would be disastrous consequences...I would have told you earlier, I swear!" He looked almost afraid, before Ludwig leaned down to hug the Italian, and then Feliciano relaxed, putting his arms around Ludwig's shoulders in response.

"I'm not mad at _you_, Feli," Ludwig told him, nuzzling the Italian's neck in a rare show of affection, before pulling back. "You did what you were supposed to do."

"I don't think you should...be mad at Gilbert or Ivan either," Feliciano murmured. "I mean...t-they're scared and under a lot of stress too...to be honest, most everyone is. I mean, the Loyals could attack any day now and since they're after Gilbert...and now he's..."

"I know," Ludwig huffed, sitting on the bed next to Feliciano. "Maybe I overreacted just the slightest." Looking over at Feliciano, he smiled. "But, hey, he's the only brother I have. I want to protect him."

"I understand," Feliciano replied. Lovino probably would have done the same thing, had it been him instead of Gilbert. "But...I wouldn't mind...having a few after all of this is over." The German just laughed and put his arm around Feliciano's shoulders, but something told him that he didn't think that was such a bad idea.

GOLD and SILVER

"So now we have two problems," Arthur sighed as he sat on his couch with Alfred. "First of all, we have the Facility, who are currently trying to capture you and Matthew, second, we have the Loyals, who are trying to capture Gilbert now." Groaning, he put a hand on his forehead. "These next few months are going to be the longest..."

"Do you think...they could be connected?" Alfred asked curiously. "I mean...do you think maybe the Loyals are connected to the Facility's plans somehow?"

"It's possible," Arthur replied. "The Loyals _are_ called the Loyals for a reason." Suddenly, the cat hissed and put his other hand on his forehead, ears going back against his forehead as he closed his visible eye. "That hurts..."

"What's wrong?" Alfred asked him a bit worriedly, getting up and walking over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I-it's nothing," Arthur replied, taking his hands off of his head. "Sometimes I get headaches when I stress, that's all. I just need to sit for a second..." sitting down on the couch, Arthur put his elbow on his knee and his chin in his palm as he stared out over the coffee table into blank space. He looked like he was thinking for a moment, before he turned to Alfred.

"You know, you've been my partner for quite some time, haven't you?" he asked suddenly.

"That's right," Alfred replied, looking at Arthur with a questioning gaze. "Why are you asking?"

"Just wondering." For a moment, Arthur was quiet again. "You know, I had a partner before you."

"You did?" Alfred replied. "I thought you said you had never bonded before now?"

"Yes, I said that, but it wasn't true. The only reason I didn't tell you was to keep my own hopes up. You see, the only way for someone like me to become unbonded is if one partner dies." Arthur looked up at Alfred now, a pained expression on his face. "My partner committed suicide on the ten-year mark of our official partnership. You see, we knew each other for quite a while before we escaped, and then when the gang was formed we bonded. To this day, I still don't know why she killed herself..." Noticing how strained his words were becoming, Alfred put an arm around Arthur's shoulders.

"You know I'd never do that, right?" He asked. "I'm perfectly happy being your partner for the rest of eternity. There's no reason for me to die." Smiling, he pulled Arthur's chin up so that he could look at him. "I'll never leave your side, you can believe that." Looking up at him, Arthur smiled, a genuine smile, before suddenly Sadiq burst through the door, panting heavily.

"Sir! The Loyals are right outside of the entrance! Their leader is demanding you and Silver!" he panted, before stepping back as the two of them jumped up and started to walk out.

"They're already coming? Damn," Arthur spat as he walked briskly across the city, before going up to the door that led to the exit and walking up the many stairs, before opening the trapdoor into the false home. Looking down at him was a red-haired, brown eyed, tan skinned man, grinning widely to show off his metal teeth.

"It's nice to meet you Arthur Kirkland," the man grinned as Arthur fully came up out of the stairwell, followed by Alfred who stood protectively next to him. "My name is Sundita Madhav Singh, the temporary leader-mediator for the Loyals. You may be wondering what exactly I'm doing here, and I'm happy to explain. You see, in order to complete the ritual to finally bring our scared leader, Sundara to world to rule over us for the rest of eternity, we were told hundreds of years ago that we'd need to get the cub from a bonded pair of males from this very gang. So, if you would, please hand over Gilbert Beilschmidt and we'll be on our way." Sundita held out his hand like he was expecting Arthur to just put said cat in the palm of his hand, and Arthur frowned, batting his hand away.

"Listen. This would work out _perfectly fine_ if I didn't give a shit about Gilbert, or if he was just some random street cat, but I do care for him and he's not just a random street cat, so the best bet for you right now would be to turn around and walk away." Arthur looked at Sundita with his one violent green eye, and the red-head just "tsk"'d almost sadly.

"That's too bad. I didn't want to have to use force to finish the first part of my mission, but it looks like I may have to," Sundita murmured with fake sincerity. "Anyway, there is a second part of our mission." Pointing at Alfred, Sundita grinned. "As a part of my agreement with Attilo and Victor Jones, I have to bring that cat and his brother back to the Facility. Maybe we can just take them and go and come back later for the first part of our mission?"

"Never," Arthur replied, lowering his head and growling dangerously. "You'll have to be willing to fight until all of your bones are broken before you can take them away from us."

"Well then," Sundita murmured, grinning. "I guess I have no choice then." Tilting his head back, Sundita put two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. As he did, Arthur's ears twitched, then his one eye widened in almost fear.

"Get down! Get back down," he snapped at Alfred, before running down the stairwell as fast as he could. Alfred followed after shutting and locking the door, not too far behind Arthur as they opened the door at the bottom and found out what he was talking about. At the sound of Sundita's whistle, hundreds of Loyals had poured down the back entrance and started to engage themselves with the Hellcats. Normally, Arthur only kept about 1500 to 1700 cats in camp, but he'd added most of the street soldiers to prepare for this moment, so now there had to be at least 25000 cats in the camp. All of them swarmed forward to meet the Loyals, and the air was filled with the sound of screaming, gunshots, yowling, caterwauling and other unfriendly fighting noises.

"We have to find Matthew and Gilbert as quickly as possible," Arthur told Alfred. "Do you have any idea of where your brother is?"

"He was with Francis in his room, at least, that's what he told me," Alfred replied. "Gilbert was still in 1A from what I heard."

"We need to get them out then," Arthur replied. "Those buildings aren't strong enough..."

"Strong enough for what?" Alfred asked. Just as he turned his head, he realized what Arthur was talking about. A Loyal threw a grenade in the window of a random house, and from inside, it exploded, spraying glass and debris everywhere, blowing out the side of the room that it was in, making the inside of the room visible to everyone else. "Oh, that." Now realizing the severity of the situation, Alfred started to run towards the building that had used to be his home, running up the steps and bursting through the door. Hoping and praying that no Loyals had seen him go in, he opened the door to Section A, panting heavily. All of the cats that were there had jumped to their feet at the sound of the grenades, and now as Alfred arrived, their heads turned to look at him.

"Everyone," he said, raising his voice loud enough to be heard over the explosions. "We need to leave. These buildings aren't strong enough to withstand the grenades. The Leader says that he's got enough space in his basement to keep us all there, so that's where we need to go." Without hesitation, they followed him as he ran out. Looking carefully at the scene in front of him, Alfred darted down the stairs to the building and started to run along the sidewalk, checking back to make sure the other cats were still following him. Eventually, Matthew ran up beside him.

"Why can't we fight?" he asked. "I thought they were just coming for—"

"I know what you thought," Alfred replied. "But Arthur wants all of us and all of the high-ranking cats not to fight. It's important that we stay alive no matter what, which is why we can't join this fight. Apparently, he's already got the others in there." Finally, they reached Arthur's house and Alfred led them to the basement. Although he'd never been in there, he'd been living with Arthur long enough to know where it was. The lights were on, so Alfred knew that Arthur was already down there. Leading the rest of the cats down, he noticed that Arthur was sitting with Elizaveta, Lilli, Vash, Rodreich, Hercales, and Sadiq, who'd originally warned them of the news. The basement had been turned into something like a bunker, with a few beds, mattresses, cabinets, a stove, a microwave, a refrigerator, and a small TV up on a table.

"Good to see you made it," Arthur greeted, walking over to the cats. "We're going to have to stay under here until the fighting stops. Since they don't know where we are, and the grenades can't effect us down here, we should be fine." He flinched as the ground rumbled as another grenade went off above ground, as did most of the other cats. Lilli was hiding under Elizaveta, who stood over her like a protective mother would, tail lashing back and forth almost angrily.

"I still don't understand why we can't fight," Lovino growled, sitting down and curling his tail around his legs. "I just want to tear those Loyals limb from limb, those weak little traitors...they don't deserve the power they've been given..."

"We need you alive," Arthur told him. "All of you, we need you all alive. It's important that we preserve what's left of the original sixteen, and we need to keep Alfred and Matthew from them as well. It looks like they've teamed up with the Facility to try and get them as well."

"This is starting to get really dangerous really fast," Elizaveta murmured, tail twitching back and forth, before she curled her lips back. "I knew accepting them would bring us nothing but trouble. If we didn't have them with us, this never would have happened—"

"_Hush_," Arthur cut her off with a dangerous snarl. "How do you know that none of this would have happened? Just because you don't like them doesn't mean the rest of us don't. It's time for you to grow up and face the facts." Alfred had never heard Arthur speak to her in that way, and apparently she hadn't either, by the way her eyes widened. Eventually, she just narrowed her eyes and looked away.

Alfred turned his attention to Gilbert and Ivan, who lied on one of the beds. Gilbert was asleep, hands tangled in Ivan's coat, head resting on his chest. The Russian tiger was gently running his hand through his soft white hair, looking at him with worried eyes. Nine months was a long time to protect someone (or eight and a half, from what Elizaveta had said, since Gilbert was already six weeks along), but after it was over, their problems were supposed to be over as well, according to Feliciano's angel friend.

"I just hope all of this is over soon," Alfred sighed, lying on his stomach next to Arthur. The cat didn't respond, but Alfred knew that he was thinking the same thing.

It was three days before a cat finally came down, telling them that the Loyals had retreated. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, but everything was fine now.

"Although the fighting's over, I was thinking it may be best for us to stick together from now on," Alfred suggested to Arthur. "That way, it's easier than just all of us having to be gathered up and brought here every time fighting starts."

"That sounds like a good idea," Arthur murmured, before turning to the cat who'd brought them the news. "Tell me, Soldier, did we happen to get any prisoners?"

"Why yes, we got quite a few," the cat replied. "Why?"

"Could you tie them up and bring them down here? I think it's time some of the cats down here let out a little bit of their anger." Alfred finally realized what Arthur meant when he said show them how serious they were about keeping their territory. Arthur had all of the cats dismember and quarter the bodies while they were still alive, and then decapitate them. Arthur told a few other Soldiers to take the heads up above ground and put them on the edge of their border. They would be used as a warning to all of the rest of the Loyals.

After everything was said and done, the rest of the cats stayed in Arthur's basement for their own protection, and Alfred and Arthur went up to survey the damage. Arthur's house hadn't suffered any damage, luckily, but the rest of the city hadn't been so lucky. Almost all of the buildings had suffered some kind of damage. Some buildings were no longer standing, others had huge, gaping holes in their side. Looking down, Arthur bit his lip and sighed.

"Don't get discouraged," Alfred told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright. We won't let them do something like this next time around."

When they finally returned to the house, Arthur let out a heavy sigh and started off towards his room, since it was late at night and he was tired. Alfred lied on the couch, and just as he was starting to close his eyes, he felt Arthur nudge his shoulder. Opening one eye, Alfred looked up at him. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"You don't...you don't have to sleep there tonight if you don't want to," he told him. "You...can sleep in my room with me if you want."

So, that night, Arthur and Alfred slept together in the same bed, like kids at a sleepover party. Little did they know, this was one of the experiences that would lead them to being something much more than partners.

**Meanwhile, on the streets...**

The anonymous scientist who'd set out to warn the Hellcats sighed happily upon seeing the Loyals flood out of the Hellcats' base, tails between their legs, ears pinned against their skulls. He was happy that they had been able to fight them off, and that obviously, all of the cats of importance were safe. Now, it was time for him to step in.


	13. Things Are Prone To Burn In Hell

**Chapter Twelve **

**Things Are Prone To Burn In Hell **

DOG and WOLF

**Nine weeks (two months, one week)**

Three weeks had passed since the Loyals had made their attack, giving Ivan and Gilbert time to discuss issues involving their child. Naturally, as Gilbert progressed further into his pregnancy, more symptoms began to arise. Normally, Gilbert was a pretty easygoing and playful cat, but he was starting to become somewhat lethargic and mellower than he was before. Most of the time he slept, but sometimes he woke to ask Ivan for something or to run to the bathroom. The morning sickness hadn't let up one bit, and sometimes he was stuck there for hours on end. Of course, since Ivan and the other cats weren't allowed to go on patrols outside of the headquarters, he would sit with Gilbert for as long as he had to before the snow leopard finally felt better.

For the many years they'd been together, Ivan had grown quite dependent on Gilbert for most of what he needed, whether it be love or food, and when the dependency was switched from himself to Gilbert, he wasn't sure what to do at first. However, he reminded himself that this was for Gilbert and their baby, so he sucked it up and got used to caring for him. Once he was used to it, the role of caretaker became an easy one for him to do. He actually didn't mind the sudden shift in career, due to the fact that it was for Gilbert and his safety. One thing that he didn't quite fully get used to were the mood swings that his partner was starting to have. Normally, Gilbert never raised his voice or yelled at Ivan, but recently he'd been getting so pissed off about nothing and then freaking out and crying about it that Ivan simply didn't know what to do.

"Ivan," Gilbert called for him one day from where he lied on their makeshift bed. "Come here, I want to show you something." Ivan, who'd been sitting not too far away, made his way from the couch over to Gilbert. The snow leopard motioned for him to sit next to him, and he did, before Gilbert took his hand and pulled up his shirt the slightest bit, resting Ivan's hand on his stomach. "Can you tell?" For a moment the Russian was silent, before he smiled. He could tell that the cat's normally muscular stomach was starting to soften and round out, no doubt a sign that there was definitely a baby in there.

"I can," Ivan murmured, before leaning over and gently kissing the other cat. "It's definitely there..."

"He," Gilbert corrected him. "_He's_ definitely in there." "How do you know it's a he?" Ivan asked curiously. "You're not even far enough to tell ye—" he was going to say more before Gilbert gently brushed his fingers across the Russian's lips.

"Mother's intuition," he smiled, before leaning against Ivan's chest. The Russian tiger gently wrapped his arms around his lover and sighed, stroking Gilbert's soft white hair. Maybe these next seven months wouldn't be as hard as he thought they'd be.

SMILE and JOKER

Slowly, but surely, the city was beginning to rebuild itself.

Like most of the things in that strange city, it was fueled by mostly angel's magic. Like the appearance of collars and the choosing of guns were. The buildings were starting to come back together, things were being rebuilt almost overnight. The magic worked somewhat slowly, but at least it worked.

Matthew sighed as he stood in front of what used to be 1A. It had been attacked pretty heavily with grenades, due to the fact that during the raid, the Loyals had believed they were in there and were trying to kill them most likely. It had only just begun to rebuild itself a few days ago, and it had yet to catch up to the other buildings around it. Matthew heard the noise of footsteps walking on the cobblestone road, before Francis came up, putting his arms around the cat's shoulders.

"It is almost woeful, isn't it, _sourire_?" Francis asked, leaning down and nuzzling into the Canadian's soft caramel blonde hair. "Looking at all of these broken-down buildings."

"It is," Matthew replied, tilting his head back so he could look into the Frenchman's blue eyes. "But soon the buildings will finish repairing themselves. I don't think we'll be able to go back inside of it for quite some time, but at least it will be there. From what the Leader said, our stuff should be there too." Smiling, Matthew tilted his head up just the slightest so he could kiss the Chartreux, before tilting his head back down. "So that gives it almost a healing element too."

"Ah, _mon cher_, I love how sentimental you are," Francis purred, hugging the smaller cat tightly. "It just makes you that much cuter~"

"I am _not_ cute!"

STONE and SAIL _Right from the very beginning, Lovino was stubborn. Almost from the second he was born, Lovino was one of the most stubborn cats that was ever created in the Facility. He refused to listen to his trainer, didn't do what he was told half of the time, and usually just lazed around his pen all day. When he went to school, he almost never did his homework or any projects he was supposed to do and failed almost every interim and report card that he got. No matter how many times he got sent to the Principal's office for fighting, or how long his teacher or trainer lectured him, or sometimes even beat him, he never listened. In fact, there was no one that he would listen to all of the time._

_That was, until Antonio came along. There was something about the brown-haired Spaniard that made Lovino just the least bit curious about him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something that drew him in, made him want to get closer to him. Although he felt like this, he refused to share it with Antonio. He was still pretty stubborn, obviously._

_They didn't officially bond until an entire year after they'd first met, due to Lovino's stubbornness. He refused to accept that he wanted Antonio to be his partner, until one day when he finally shared most of his feelings with the Spaniard and had broken down sobbing in his arms. It was the only time that he ever cried in front of him or told Antonio what he truly felt. In fact, it was the only time he ever did it, period. Antonio was the only person that he let his stubborn shield down for, if only just for a moment._

**Meanwhile, in a laboratory... **

"So your first mission failed?" Attilo asked Sundita as he sat at a table with him.

"No, we just temporarily retreated to re-gather our forces," Sundita replied. "They had many more warriors than we thought they'd have, so obviously we need to add more to our ranks as well, which is why we've been hand-picking some shifters from you. For our next offense, we're going to make it even harder for the city to repair itself. Our plan will drive our victims up out of their underground hiding place and into daylight. Once they're there, they'll be able to be easily picked off." An evil grin spread across both Attilo and Sundita's faces at the red-head's words.

"I like your idea," he grinned. "Now, when are you planning to put this in motion?"

"Tonight," Sundita replied. "You should have your prisoners by tomorrow morning, and we shall have ours."

"It sounds perfect," Attilo purred. "I'm sure that my brother will love your plan."

** Meanwhile, on the streets...**

The man had just learned of Sundita's plan from one of his spies. Now was his chance. Despite the fact that he hated what the possessed leader was doing, it gave him the ability to show that he could help the Hellcats, and that he wasn't there to harm them.

It was almost time for him to hit the stage.

GOLD and SILVER

The night was cold and dark. Alfred shivered as he sat next to Arthur, keeping guard outside of the house. As much as Arthur hated dragging him into it, Alfred insisted that he help, since he was a part of this problem. Arthur decided not to deny it to him and let him sit out there in the cold night, looking around cautiously for any sign of an attack.

"You know you don't have to sit out here," Arthur told him, breath fogging in the air. "I can do it by myself."

"It's alright," Alfred told him, pressing up against the lynx, mostly to keep Arthur warm but also to keep himself warm as well. "I don't mind sitting out here with you. It's actually kind of peaceful, since nothing's going on."

"At least, it is for now," Arthur murmured. "But anything could happen at any moment." Unknown to them, something was happening right then. A few cats had managed to sneak past the main guards at the back entrance. They were holding lighter fluid, matches, candles, lighters, and sticks. Obviously, all hell was about to break loose.

Eventually, Alfred's ears lifted and he carefully sniffed the air. Immediately, his ears went back against his head and he looked over at Arthur. "Do you smell that?" he asked quietly.

"Smell what?" Arthur asked, before his ears twitched as well. "Oh, never mind. It smells like smoke..." For a moment, he was silent, before his eyes went wide and he started to run in the opposite direction. Alfred followed him, before he came to the source of the smoke smell. A whole street had been lit on fire, and the flames were burning uncontrollably. Smoke was starting to billow out of the burning buildings, and both Alfred and Arthur were coughing heavily by the time they made it there.

"We have to get back to warn the others," Arthur told him, starting to turn and go back in the other direction. Nodding Alfred followed him as they tried to outrun the flames. The Loyals that had come down had spread the lighter fluid around quite well, and the fires were spreading quickly. They had to get there as fast as they could, or else it would be too late.

WINE and SHOTGUN

Ludwig smelled the smoke before he saw it, since the German Rex had been sleeping when this whole incident started. At first, the thought it was the nightmare again, but when he awoke, he realized it was something much, much more serious.

"Feli! Feli wake up," he growled, nudging the Italian lying next to him. "Wake up now!" The Italian whined a little in his sleep, before opening one eye to look at the German. "We have to wake up the others right now! There's a fire somewhere nearby..."

"A fire?" Feliciano asked, sitting upright in the bed. For a moment he was quiet, before sniffing at the air and stiffening.

Like most animal-human hybrids, shifters retained a lot of their animal like behaviors, like impulsive eating*, spraying, food aggression and a "sixth-sense" ability to sense natural disasters. They had kept one more behavior, one that turned out most of the time to be a fatal flaw; an innate fear of fire. When the fire was confined to a closed fireplace or stove, usually they'd be fine, but if they even got close to an open fire, the normal shifter would flee right away. As soon as he smelled it, Feliciano's legs went stiff.

"What are you waiting for? Run!" Ludwig snapped at Feliciano, and suddenly his legs unstiffened as he ran as fast as he could. He needed to see the extent of the damage, and how fast the fire was spreading. As soon as he made it outside, Feliciano could see that this was no small accidental fire. The streets behind him had been turned into a raging inferno as the fire swallowed everything in its path. The buildings had been made mostly out of bricks, but a few of them were wooden or had flammable inside material that easily caught fire. Seeing just how serious it was, he knew that he had to get back down to warn Ludwig.

GOLD and SILVER

It had taken a while, but most of the cats from the city, including the cats who'd been staying in Arthur's house had been evacuated. The fire was still raging below, but it wouldn't be able to reach the house above it. In the streets, it was chaos; there were thousands of shifters in the roads, blocking most of the late-night traffic and frightening pedestrians.

"_Now_ what are we supposed to do?" Elizaveta snarled angrily. "We tried hiding out underground, but now that our base is destroyed we've got nowhere to run! What are we going to do?"

"I know what you can do." An unfamiliar voice stated. All of the cat's heads turned as the man walked into view. He was wearing a long brown coat that scraped the ground and a tall black hat. Almost immediately, the cats went into a defensive stance, but the man just held up both of his hands submissively.

"My name is Ivory Jones," he told them. "I may look like a scientist, but I assure you, I'm on your side. I have somewhere that you can hide out, if you all would just come with me. I promise, I have no intention to hurt you."

"And why should we trust you?" Arthur growled, before Francis stepped in front of him.

"Because he's the scientist who freed me," the blonde told him, before looking back at Ivory. "Where exactly will you be taking us?"

Not thirty minutes later, they were arriving en masse to the 100-acre farmland that he supposedly owned.

"Before I was forced to go into the Facility, I inherited a lot of money from my parents," Ivory explained. "And I also inherited all of their property. There are different small houses scattered around the property, and the main mansion is in the middle. You and your special cats can stay there, and the rest of them can stay in the smaller houses. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like. They shouldn't be able to find you here."

"Thank you," Arthur told him. Obviously, any aggression that he had towards him had dissolved. "This should be just big enough for all of us."

That night, Alfred saw Arthur get drunk for the first time since he'd become his partner. He had no idea that Arthur even liked alcohol, but that night he drank so much of it, he feared that he'd drink himself to death. As Arthur sunk lower and lower into his drunken stupor, it was almost like someone had turned on a water fountain. He was slurring and hiccupping and crying about things that Alfred couldn't understand, saying things that he'd never heard him say before and crying more than he'd ever seen him. Eventually, he decided he'd gone too far and took the bottles of whatever he was drinking away from him.

"Stop that," he told him. "You're going to kill yourself."

"Maybe I should," Arthur slurred, looking at him with an unfocused green eye. "Just kill myself. I've got nothing to stay for—"

"That's not true and you know it." Alfred looked at him with serious blue eyes, and for a second their eyes met, before Arthur looked down. "Never mind. You're too drunk to even know what's going on." Getting up, Alfred took Arthur into his arms, bridal style, and started to carry him upstairs to where the rooms were. The lynx started to protest, but he did little to struggle against Alfred's grip. Eventually, he finally put him down in a large bed in one of the rooms. Arthur's head fell back against the pillow, and he looked up at Alfred through one foggy green eye. Leaning down, Alfred gently pressed his lips up against Arthur's, before pulling back and looking down at him.

"Don't die on me, Artie," he told him. "There's still a lot of things you need to finish." The smaller cat looked almost shocked, before he closed his one visible eye and let his head fall limply to the side. Sighing, Alfred turned and started to leave, before looking back at the sleeping cat. "Sleep well."


	14. In Hell, Drama Still Exists

**Chapter Thirteen **

**In Hell, Drama Still Exists **

GOLD and SILVER

It had been three months since they first came to Ivory's estate, and for once things were starting to return to a somewhat normal pace. The Cats in Training, who hadn't been trained since the first time the Loyals attacked, were starting to train again. Cautiously, yet optimistically, life went on. Arthur, meanwhile, was still puzzled over the show of affection Alfred had given him the first night they had came. Did he kiss him really because he loved him? Or was it just a spur of the moment action? It seemed to be the second option, because nothing was changing between them.

One day, at lunch, Ivory came to speak to Arthur and Alfred. Most of the time, the ex-scientist kept his distance from the cats, not wanting to intrude on their personal affairs or business, so this appearance was quite rare. It was obvious that none of them still trusted him fully, but it appeared like Ivory's message was an important one, so they decided to listen to him.

"There's been some shady activity going on near the west border of the territory," Ivory told him. "I've been noticing some figures coming in and out of the building that's there, and they don't look like they're a part of your gang from what I can tell."

"So you're saying that we should go and check it out?" Alfred asked him.

"Yes," Ivory replied. "That is, if you think you need to..."

"We can't have them figuring out where we are this time," Arthur murmured, halfly to himself and halfly to the others. "We need to figure out what's going on there, and if needed, get rid of some spies." That evening, Arthur sent Alfred out to check and see what was going on. He was told that if there were more than two cats there, that he was to turn back and come for backup, but if there were only one or two he was to take them out alone. When he arrived there, he noticed that there were two cats in the building. Obviously, by the fact that they had neither a collar nor a bandanna, they had to have been Loyals. Jumping on from the window, Alfred let out a deadly snarl, and the two got to their feet. They couldn't have been more than twenty years old; at twenty, Hellcats were fully mature, and by their appearance and their scent, Alfred could tell that they were most definitely not fully mature.

"Please, don't hurt us," the first one cried, cowering at Alfred's feet. "We're not here to hurt you! Honest! We don't even want to be spies—"

"We were forced by Attilo and Jones to join with Sundita to spy on this place," the second one added on to the first's statements. "To be honest, all we really want is our freedom! We're loyal to neither Attilo nor Jones, nor Sundita. We were going to ask for your acceptance into the gang—"

"We were told by some others that you were the partner of the leader and that you might be able to get us in," the first said again. "We thought maybe that if you told him the story we could join!"

Looking down at the two cats cowering below him, Alfred through about the sincerity of their statement. It was actually pretty plausible; they were young and when he'd come across them, they didn't seem like they were interested in spying at all, or even being found. They weren't being careful or hiding. Just as he was starting to hesitate, Alfred heard a deathly snarl sound. Jumping in from over his head, Arthur stood, snarling at the smaller cats. They squeaked in fear and pressed down even lower to the ground. Elizaveta landed beside him, also snarling. Before the first could speak, Arthur was at his throat, teeth latched around his neck. The terrified cat cried out in fear and pain, and Alfred called out;

"Don't kill him!" His words went unnoticed, however, as the cat bit down harder on the smaller's neck. Normally, it would be hard to snap someone's neck with your mouth alone; however, a Hellcat's jaws were designed to be ten times stronger than the normal cat's, and could easily snap bones. With sickening crack and a spray of blood, the cat went limp in Arthur's jaws. The second cat cried out in fear and tried to get away, but Elizaveta met him and sunk her jaws into his head. With another crack, Elizaveta easily broke the smaller cat's undeveloped skull, before dropping his limp, unmoving body on the floor.

The whole thing only lasted about three minutes, with Alfred just sitting and staring at them while the cats massacred the other two. After they were done, Arthur looked at him, blood covering his mouth and neck. For a moment, Alfred's eyes were directed towards the ground, before he looked up at Arthur with angry eyes.

"You idiot!" Arthur stiffened in surprise as the bigger cat lunged forward, grabbing the smaller by the scruff and threw him at the wall. The lynx hit the wall with such force, however, that he went through its flimsy wood and landed in a pile of leaves outside. Standing up, Arthur looked at Alfred who had jumped through the hole his partner's impact made and was standing in front of him, panting. "Why didn't you listen to me?" For a moment, Arthur was silent. "Did you think that I didn't know what I was talking about? It upsets me that you don't even have trust in your own partner. If you don't trust in me, how am I supposed to trust in you?" Still, Arthur was silent, before he looked at Alfred with his single green eye.

"I knew right from the beginning that this couldn't work," he stated. "I lost the first partner I had, and now I'm on the way to losing my second." Turning, the lynx started off in the other direction. "It would be better for me to just leave." Alfred turned his head and watched as the second made his way off, and Elizaveta started to follow him.

"What are you doing? You can't just leave!" she told him, running up and standing in front of him. "We still have to—" she was going to say more, but the lynx just pushed past her and continued to walk, not even acknowledging that she'd been speaking to him. Frowning, Elizaveta tossed her head. "Be that way then!"

And with that, Arthur broke off into a run and disappeared into the trees behind the shed.

DOG and SHOTGUN

By the way that he acted, it was obvious that Ludwig still hadn't fully come to terms that his brother was really pregnant, by Ivan much less. It was still so foreign, so alien to him; at least, it was, until Gilbert was five and a half months pregnant and he let him feel the baby move for the first time.

"Come here, bruder," he'd told him one day. "You have to feel this." At first, Ludwig was reluctant, before Gilbert grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to sit beside him. Gently, he rested Ludwig's hand on top of his stomach. It had become very obvious that the snow leopard was pregnant, and as a result, he was starting to wear baggier clothes to better fit his growing figure. Not too long ago, the baby had started to move and kick, and Ludwig could see Gilbert's eyes light up or a smile cross his face whenever it did. Obviously, his brother had a strong attachment to it already, whereas Ludwig was still on the fence. On one hand, Ivan had contributed to the making of it, and Ludwig's hatred towards Ivan was almost always visible. He hated the Russian tiger with a fiery passion, and he hated the fact that he and his brother had been bonded, and he _hated_ the fact that he'd fathered Gilbert's baby. On the other hand, this was his beloved brother that was carrying it, the brother that he'd grown up with and loved. The brother that had taught him how to shoot a gun and hunt and play and fight. The brother that had stood beside him when their parents and older brother died almost one after the other. The brother that had ran beside him when they escaped from that dreaded laboratory. The brother that he loved so much was the mother of this baby, making him its uncle. At that time, Ludwig was still on the fence...that was, until he felt a tiny movement under his palm.

For a moment, he didn't react, before he a small smile started to break across his face. Again, he felt it move, and Ludwig rubbed small circles on Gilbert's stomach to see if it would move again for him. This time, he felt it kick, and a bigger smile crossed his face.

"Isn't it amazing?" Gilbert asked. "He's very active." He gently put his hand over Ludwig's, looking down at his younger brother. Looking back up at him, it was then that Ludwig decided to love it just as much as his brother did.

SILVER and IVORY

Alfred's tail twitched slowly as he sat at the edge of a ravine, looking down the steep edges of the cliff. It had to have been at least a 100-foot drop, with a river at the bottom. He watched it wash over the big rocks at the bottom and foam at the sides of its banks, and he sighed, before lying down on his stomach. It just didn't make sense. Just when he thought that he and Arthur were starting to forge a bond deeper than just being friends or partners, he went and did something like that. It just didn't make _sense._

"I see that you're without your little friend," a familiar voice stated, and Alfred lifted his head. Standing there was Attilo, Jones, and Sundita, heads lowered and grinning at him. "You!" he snarled, jumping to his feet and growling at the three. Cautiously, he took a few steps away from the edge of the ravine. If he had to launch himself into battle, he didn't want to be standing so close to it.

"Hello, Alfred F. Jones, it's nice to catch you alone like this," Attilo grinned, taking a step closer to him. Alfred snarled and snapped his jaws at him, and the Italian laughed. "A feisty one, huh? Just like your brother." The man lunged at him, but Alfred dodged out of the way, landing close to a building that was nearby. It was a bad move to make, as Jones, who'd been standing close to it lunged forward and grabbed him by the neck, pressing him into the building. The man's grip was strong as he shoved Alfred up against the wall, hand embedded firmly on his throat, pressing his silver collar up against his skin.

"You're so weak," Jones snarled, lips brought back to show his teeth. "What have they been teaching you in this gang? How to give up?"

"You should know that's not true," Alfred coughed, blue eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "You've seen what we're capable of."

"Obviously it's all gone to waste," he grinned as he lifted his knee to press into the handicapped cat's stomach. "Since you can't lay a finger on me right now!"

"He can't," a voice suddenly said from across the room. "But I can." Alfred's eyes widened as he saw the man walk into the clearing, head lowered and eyes glowing.

"Ivy!" both of them exclaimed.

"Ivy, you shameless excuse for a professor," Jones growled, looking over at him with narrowed green eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving my son."

_Son?_ Alfred thought, confused, before Ivory gave Jones a harsh kick to the ribs that sent him flying into a tree. As he did, he noticed the tall hat that the ex-scientist normally wore fell off of his head and onto the ground, and that's when he noticed his ash-blonde hair almost the same shade as his, and that one stubborn hair that stuck up above all of the others, and the pricked golden ears that sat on his head. Now, it was obvious.

Ivory Jones was really a Hellcat himself.

"You have to get out of here!" Ivory yelled at Alfred. "Run!" As he turned to face Attilo, who had started running at him as soon as he'd thrown his brother, the confused cat stood to try and run, but Sundita blocked his path.

"Not so fast, kitten," Sundita snarled, tackling the bigger cat and pushing him to the ground. Snarling, Alfred attempted to kick him off, but even when he kicked at his exposed stomach and had to have hurt him somehow, Sundita didn't budge. Leaning down, he shifted himself so that he could grab Alfred by the neck and stood up, strong jaws gripping him tightly. Alfred gagged and twisted in his grip, but the seasoned fighter didn't let him go. Instead, he started walking towards the ravine, dragging the bigger cat behind him. Realizing his intentions, Alfred cried out and struggled harder, but nothing worked. Just when he thought it was over, he heard a terrifying scream and saw a golden blur out of the side of his eye slam into Sundita's side.

"Arthur!" Alfred exclaimed, noticing the golden lynx that stood above the downed Irish-Indian. The cat had cleaned the blood off of his muzzle and neck and looked much better than he had a few hours ago when he'd left. "You came back?"

"Of course I did," Arthur told him, resting one of his hands on Sundita's throat. "I wasn't about to let you get captured by those scientists." A smile crossed his face, and Alfred smiled back, before a loud snarl sounded as Attilo tackled Arthur. The force of it sent Arthur flying back into Alfred, who let out a squeak and half-fell off of the side of the ravine. As his hands struggled to get a hold on the loose earth, Arthur fought to break away from Attilo so he could rescue his partner. Just as Alfred thought he was losing his grip, a strong hand gripped his. Looking up, he noticed Ivory, clinging tightly to his hands. He looked into Ivory's blue-green eyes, and the older cat grinned. He started to pull him up, before letting out a yelp as the earth beneath his feet crumbled. It was too loose to hold the weight of both of the cats, and he let out a cry, before pulling his son close to his chest as the earth gave way below his feet.

_One hundred and fifty years ago, Ivory Jones had to make the hardest choice of his life._

_A few years ago, he and his wife Maria had escaped the confines of the laboratory upon finding out that she was expecting. They both knew what would happen to their cubs if they stayed, so they had to get out at once. The security in the lab was not as high as it would be in years to come, so they got out fairly easily. For a while they lived in the mountains before their first son, Alfred was born. Three years later, Maria conceived again, which came as a great shock and surprise to them. However, it was not to end as nicely as her first pregnancy. It was a little-known fact that, in her family, a strange thing almost always happened. If the one that was having the baby was the second-born in the family, on her second pregnancy, she would have a massive hemorrhage and die. As predicted, after her second birth, Maria suffered one and died not long after Matthew was born._

_For three more years, Ivory Jones was forced to raise them on his own. One day, he was found at his hiding place by Attilo and Victor Jones, two of the dog-shifters who now ran the laboratory. He knew that they were going to take him and his sons back to the lab, and that was something that he just couldn't bear. So, they made a deal. Ivory would have to find a foster parent for his sons to raise them. His sons, who were six and three at the time, would have to have their memories wiped so they wouldn't remember him. As long as they didn't cause any trouble for the Facility, they would be allowed to live free. As the last part of their agreement, Ivory would have to become a professor at the Facility. Ivory agreed._

_After they'd had their memories wiped and were asleep, Ivory took them to a good friend of his, Raven. He promised her that one day, he would return to claim his sons as his own. He hoped that it would be soon._

_He never expected that it would be like this._


	15. You Can Find What You Never Knew You Had

**Chapter Fourteen**

**You Can Find What You Never Knew You Had In Hell**

SILVER and IVORY

Alfred knew very well that the impact should have killed them both. They shouldn't have survived, even if there was water under them. Opening his eyes, however, he could tell from the sand beneath him that, by some miracle, he'd survived. Feeling arms around him, he turned to look at Ivory, who was still knocked out beside him. Moving, he unwrapped himself from the bigger man's protective arms and gently nudged his shoulder.

"Ivory?" He murmured, attempting to wake the scientist. There was no response, and again he nudged him, a little harder this time. Opening his blue-green eyes, Ivory looked at him over his glasses, before sitting up and coughing.

"Sorry about all of that," he murmured, frowning as he looked at his soaked clothes that were probably ruined. "It was very...impromptu."

"Are you really my father?" Alfred asked him. "Is...it true?" For a moment, Ivory was silent, before nodding.

"Yes. I'm your father, and I'm Matthew's father as well. I had him take Maria's last name to protect you." Now he got it. When he was younger, he'd almost thought that he and Matthew hadn't been really related by blood, but what Ivory was telling him confirmed what he'd come to think.

"And what of my mother?" Alfred asked. "Did we even have the same mother? Is she by any chance a scientist too, like you?" A pained expression crossed Ivory's face, and he looked down.

"Your mother loved you up to the last breath she took," Ivory replied. "She wanted only the best for you. She wanted you to live a fulfilling life and to have kids of your own one day, and someone who loved you. She died almost immediately after Matthew was born."

For a moment, Alfred was silent, before looking back at him, tears glistening in his eyes. "...why, though? Why did you leave us and become a scientist?" Alfred asked. "Why would you do those kinds of things to your own breed?"

"It's a long story," Ivory replied, moving closer to sit next to his son. "It all started three years before you were born..." Alfred listened intently as Ivory explained everything, how they escaped the Facility so that he could be born safely, and how Maria had his brother and subsequently died. He told him about the struggles of raising them those three years, and when the other Jones brothers came to bring him back. He told him how they'd been favored over the other shifters and had come to control the Facility, and how Ivory was forced to give up his sons and wipe their memories.

"That's why you don't remember me," Ivory told him. "I was forced to get your memories wiped before I gave you up." For a moment, he was silent, before looking down at the ground. By the way his shoulders started to tremble, Alfred could tell he was starting to cry. "Not a day has gone by since then...with me thinking how to get out of this dreaded place...or how I could have protected you better..." Reaching out, Alfred gently tilted Ivory's chin up so that he could see his face and wiped the tears off of his cheeks.

"Don't cry," he told him. "I...I think that what you did, all those years ago, was the right thing to do. I mean...without you, Matthew never would have left that day, and I never would have gone to find him. I never would have joined the Hellcats, and I never would have met Arthur. Even though we fight and the two of us are very different, I know that we were meant to last for centuries almost as soon as I met him. Thanks to you, I was able to find out where I truly belonged."

"So you don't hate me for what I did?" Ivory asked, sounding almost surprised as he looked up at Alfred.

"No," the smaller cat replied. "I don't. Not in the slightest."

"That's all that I needed to hear," Ivory grinned, standing up and helping Alfred to his feet. "Now, let's get back home to reassure your partner that we're still alive.

GOLD'S LONE LAMENT

Arthur hadn't moved from his bed since the day before, when he'd watched as Alfred and Ivory disappeared over the edge of the cliff. He'd sat there at the edge, one eye watching as their figures got smaller, before falling into the water. Jones, Attilo, and Sundita had run as soon as they'd fallen over, like the cowards that they were. Francis and Matthew had come as soon as they'd heard of the fight, and then they saw Arthur sitting at the edge of the cliff. They'd asked him what happened, but Arthur had only gotten up and taken two shaky steps before collapsing. They'd taken him home and rested him on his bed, and since then, Arthur hadn't moved. Through their own observations and asking cats who'd been in the area, they figured it out by themselves.

"Please, _Borgne, _don't do this to yourself," Francis pleaded with him, sitting beside him on the bed. Arthur didn't answer him, just lied there. "It was not your fault! Please, you have to do something! Don't kill yourself over this!" He would have had Arthur check his bonding symbol, but both of them knew that if the partner had died it took weeks to fade, depending on how the cat felt about their death. Obviously, Arthur felt very strongly about his partner's demise. Eventually, Francis just sighed and pulled Arthur's head into his lap, gently stroking his soft blonde hair. "Oh, _Borgne_... _Je m'inquiète que vous*_..."

The day after, however, a young cat came to them with news.

"Please, you must come with the Leader! He has someone asking for him!"

"Who is it?" Francis asked, looking at the limp Arthur that half-lied in his lap, one green eye half-closed as he sat there in his misery.

"I would say, but I'm not allowed. You just have to come right now!"

Obeying his wishes, Francis heaved Arthur into his arms before going outside to see what was the matter. The smaller cat didn't react through the whole time, before they got outside. From over the hill on the horizon, they could see two figures emerge. As they got closer, Arthur picked up his ears and moved his head from where it rested on Francis's chest. Suddenly, upon noticing who it was, Arthur launched himself from the Frenchman's arms and ran across the clearing separating them. No one had ever seen him run as fast as he did that day, before he took a flying leap and landed on Alfred, nuzzling him and speaking in hurried words as they both fell to the ground. Ivory, who'd been with him, just grinned at the two cats.

"You're back!" Arthur cried, nuzzling into Alfred's neck. "I thought you'd gone and died for sure! Oh, Alfred, I missed you..." He'd never gotten such a show of affection from Arthur before, and the bigger cat just smiled as he put his arms around Arthur's shoulders. Standing up, the two brushed themselves off, and Arthur looked up into Alfred's sky blue eyes. Smiling, Alfred took Arthur's chin in his hands, tilting his head up just the slightest so he could look into his solitary green eye. Arthur leaned up just the slightest bit, and Alfred leaned down, before he kissed him, and _really_ kissed him, not just pressed his lips to Arthur's like he had that night all those days ago. He kissed him with unbridled passion, all of the emotions that he'd felt ever since he'd first met him being transferred to the other cat. Gently, Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, leaning in deeply to the kiss, before both of them parted so they could breathe. They didn't even need to say "I love you," because obviously, they could both tell from the show of affection one gave the other.

"I missed you too," Alfred grinned, and Arthur's smile widened as he leaned up to kiss the bigger cat again.

CLOVER and RUNNER

_One month later..._ Today was the day that all of Sadiq's dreams came true.

"Hey, Sadiq," Arthur had told him when the cat was walking around. "I have a mission for you." For a moment, Sadiq got ready to sigh, before he heard the word "mission" and his ears picked up.

"A mission?" he asked, running up to Arthur. "As in, a for real mission? As in, not just bringing someone an important message? As in, a _real_ I might actually fight mission?" Arthur nodded, and Sadiq almost jumped five feet in the air. "Finally! What do I have to do?"

"It's going to be dangerous," Arthur told him. "There's a possibility that, if you hesitate or mess up, you could die. Are you willing to risk that?"

"I've come close to dying more than once," Sadiq told him. "It's the best feeling. Give me everything you've got."

And so, Arthur explained the mission to him. To counter what they'd done to them, Sadiq and Hercales were going to go in to set fire to the Facility. Since most of it was made out of concrete, it could be hard, but Arthur told him to go into the main building where the scientists kept most of their chemicals and to throw one grenade that Arthur had given him. As soon as it exploded, the highly reactive chemicals would probably explode too. It would definitely cause some damage. He also gave him lighter fluid, matches, candles, and sticks. He told him to spread it around as best as he could and to light anything and everything he saw on fire. As soon as he was sure that Sadiq got the idea, he gave him the supplies and the single grenade.

"Now you'd better come back safely," Arthur told him as he and his partner prepared to leave. "There will be big rewards for you if you do. Remember your limits and use your gun if you have to—"

"You're such a mother cat," Sadiq laughed, before leaning down and hugging Arthur. "I'll be fine. I've been waiting my whole _life_ to do this, there's no way I'll screw it up now." He smiled at the smaller cat, and Arthur sighed, before smiling back at Sadiq.

"Just be careful, alright?"

That night, as they approached the Facility, Hercales and Sadiq sat outside of the gates in the woods to go over their plan.

"So you know what we're going to do?" Hercales asked him. The plan was to spread as much lighter fluid as they could around, before Sadiq blew up the main building. Some it would probably be ignited by that, and the rest of it they were to ignite themselves. Then they would escape.

"Yes," Sadiq grinned. The cat adjusted his white mask one last time, pulling his hoodie over his ears before pinning them flat to his head. "Do you?"

"Of course I do," Hercales replied. "Let's go then." The cats carefully made their way into the Facility. They both made their way in with no resistance; probably because all of them were sleeping. After they'd successfully spread lighter fluid, they made their way to the main building, and Sadiq looked up at it and its open window. Cautiously taking the grenade out of his coat, he pulled out the firing pin, throwing it in through the window. As soon as he'd done that, both he and Hercales fled, going to light the rest of the fluid that wasn't around that area. A few moments later, they heard the explosion go off, and both of them knew that now they were running on limited time. They managed to light some of the fluid they'd spread and, knowing that it would spread, they started to flee, before they were stopped by a group of Loyals.

"And just where do you think you're going?" one of them growled, lowering his head and stepping towards him, tongue swiping across his jaws. Sadiq snarled loudly at him, hair along his spine raised as he tensed, ready for a fight if there needed to be one. Hercales just held up one hand to stop him, before drawing his Galil from his coat and shooting all of them.

"Rats can be easily dealt with using only guns," Hercales told him. "It's easier than to waste energy on them."

"Says the guy with an assault rifle, I have a pistol," Sadiq muttered, before starting to run off again.

Their escape was not to be an easy one however. How it had ended up, it seemed that the entrance had been blocked by not only fire, but also scientists and dogs as well. They had to find another way out, and fast. Groups of Loyals and dogs were starting to descend upon them, and they didn't have a lot of time. Thinking fast, Sadiq climbed to the top of an unlit building and started to run, jumping over the gaps between it and the other buildings. He could see that there was a way out, and Hercales followed him on the ground. He was fast enough to keep up with Sadiq at this pace, and also fast enough to stay in front of the Loyals and dogs. Soon, however, right before their exit came, there was a problem. There was a big gap between the last building and the second-to-last, too big for him to jump.

"He won't be able to jump that..." Hercales thought out loud to himself, before another thought crossed his mind, and he climbed to the top of the last building. The dogs and Loyals snapped at them from below, and he turned to face Sadiq. "Keep running!" he told him. "Run faster, you can make it!" The gap was huge, but to Sadiq, it was little more than just an obstacle standing in his way of completing his first mission. It was just something standing between him and acceptance, showing he others that he could _do_ this and not just run away all the time. This was his moment, his time. As he pushed off the side of the building and used his momentum to soar across the gap and looked at Hercales who stood on the other side, he let his mind overtake him for just a second, and in that moment, the world was his.

DOG and WOLF

**Six months, two weeks (26 weeks out of 40)**

"So, did you hear about the mission the Leader sent Runner and Clover on?" Ivan asked Gilbert one day.

"The Leader sent Runner on a mission?" Gilbert asked, sounding almost confused. "Why would he do that?"

"He said that it would be perfect for Sadiq and his skill." Ivan replied. "Apparently, it went well, besides the fact that Sadiq passed out from over-excursion. When I talked to him, he said it was the most thrilling thing he'd ever done." Grinning, the Russian tiger sat beside Gilbert on the couch where he'd been sitting. Gently, he rested a hand on Gilbert's swollen stomach, rubbing small circles on it. "One day, our baby will do something like that too.

" "One day..." Gilbert murmured, looking down at his stomach. "But not for a long time." He smiled as he felt the baby kick at Ivan's touch. "He'll do something special that'll earn him some kind of high title, I bet."

"Of course he will," Ivan reassured him. "After all, this is _our_ son we're talking about."

"Did you say son?" Gilbert asked, a smile on his face. Even though he was almost sure the baby was a boy, Ivan usually referred to him as "it".

"Yes," the Russian tiger replied, grinning at his lover. "Does that make you happy? That I believe in you?"

"Of course it does," the snow leopard replied, resting his head on Ivan's shoulder. "He's going to love you, Ivan. I know that I do. You'll be a great father." Ivan just smiled as he ran his fingers through Gilbert's soft white hair.

GOLD and SILVER

In the time that Alfred had been in the gang, he'd never expected what was happening now to happen. It was going on though, it was real, it was reality. Arthur had called all of the cats to meet in an impromptu meeting, saying that he had something very important that he needed to announce.

"My cats," he greeted them all. "As you may or may not know, it has been many years since there was a Second for this gang. However, the time of going without backup is over. Even though he hasn't been here for very long, I know that he can handle the task of being a Second." Looking down at Alfred from where he stood, Arthur grinned. "Alfred F. Jones, do you accept the position of Second?" For a moment, Alfred was silent as he looked up at Arthur in shock, before, almost trembling, he nodded.

"I...I do," he finally choked out. "I accept."

"Then, with that, I name you my Second." As soon as he said that, cheering yowls erupted from the cats. Some of them were simply yowling, others were saying his gang name, "_Silver_", but with a different element in it, like they were saying it with respect. He had _power_ now, he was a second. In fact, he may even be above...

As the crowd started to disassemble, Alfred turned as he felt the presence of someone behind him. Elizaveta stood there, green eyes staring deeply into his own. He was ready for her to grab him by the throat, or insult him, or curse at him, but she was silent, before sighing.

"You're the second now," she murmured. "Don't take it lightly. It's been a long time since he appointed anyone up so high. The last one who took that position was his former partner..."

"Who was he?" Alfred asked.

"_She_," Elizaveta corrected. "She was...the sister of someone very dear to him...her name was Rikki."

SMILE and JOKER

"Your brother has truly been given a privilege," Francis told Matthew that night as he lied down to sleep. "It has been a while since Arthur has trusted anyone so much as to appoint them to a position like that..."

"Who was the last?" Matthew asked. "I've heard her name spoken sometimes, but I'm not sure of who she is exactly."

For a moment, Francis was silent, before looking down and smiling. "She was the Leader's former partner. Her name was Rikki Bonnefoy, and she was my twin sister."

**Meanwhile, in (what's left) of a laboratory...**

"GOD DAMN!" Attilo screamed, throwing his fist through what remained of a concrete wall. "THOSE DAMN CATS!" He started to pace in angry circles, before turning and slamming his fist into the same wall, further breaking it into smaller pieces. Jones just sighed as he looked at the burned Facility, and Sundita sat there, brown eyes staring.

"Attilo, please, calm yourself," Jones muttered. "It will do us no good if you're so pissed off that you can't think."

"They did this!" Attilo snarled. "Those fucking cats!"

"I think we all know who did this," Sundita murmured. "Should we retaliate?"

"Not yet," Jones replied. "We need to figure out how many are dead and what we've lost. As soon as we do that, we'll be ready to attack again."

"I'm just telling you, there are only three and a half months left before that cub is supposed to be born," Sundita told him. "It will be much harder for us to obtain him after he's born...since there will most likely be a lot of security around him and his mother."

"Don't worry, we'll attack soon," Jones told him. "You'll get your cub and we'll get our professor and his sons. I know that they're still alive; a little fall like that won't kill cats that strong. And then, we'll do so many tests on them, by the time it's over, no one will even know they're cats anymore."

** Meanwhile, for the ending note...**

It was late at night, and the cheetah's head turned as he looked back. Ever since he completed his mission, he'd felt...different. Watched. Stalked. It definitely seemed like someone was watching him...

Suddenly, a hand came out of the darkness, wrapping around his mouth and sticking a knife at his throat. "Make a noise and you die," it growled in a heavy Italian accent. "Come with me and you may survive."

It was then that the events for the next three and a half months had been planned out.

[*_Je m'inquiète que vous-_ I worry about you in French]


	16. Family Ties Run Strong In Hell

**Chapter Fifteen**

** Family Ties Run Strong In Hell **

GOLD and SILVER

Alfred had, honestly, never seen Arthur so angry as when he heard the news that Sadiq had been kidnapped. For at least half an hour he paced around his room, cursing and hissing and snarling about how this was obviously the Facility's planning, and then afterwards he sat on his bed, worrying about what they could possibly be doing to his adopted son.

"We need to send out a patrol as quickly as we can," Arthur finally told him. "To go to the facility and get him back. Who knows what they could be doing to him there, or planning to do..."

"Now you're talking," Alfred grinned, sitting up on the bed. "Who should we bring?"

"Anyone who's capable of going," Arthur replied. "Hercales will most likely end up going as well, even though he hasn't been acting quite right since Sadiq was kidnapped." It was true. In the days following the other cat's kidnapping, Hercales had become even more distant than usual, refusing to come out from his hiding place even for Kiku, who was a good friend of his. He'd also been refusing to eat or drink, and had been hiding out in his room like he was afraid of going outside or anywhere near anyone else.

"Do you think he'll be up to it?" Alfred asked questioningly. "I mean...like you said, he hasn't been acting quite right. What if..."

"Hercales would do anything for him," Arthur told Alfred. "The bond between them is strong, just like any partner's. A Hellcat is hardwired to protect and always go after their partner, no matter what happens. A Hellcat without a partner is as useless as a bird without wings."

"Except you," Alfred countered. "You got on for ten years without a partner, from what everyone else is telling me."

"True, but I was never as strong as a leader as I was with a partner at my side," Arthur murmured. "Now that I have you though...we're a force to be reckoned with. Those scientists won't know what hit them when we attack. And now that we've got someone from the inside with us..."

"Are you suggesting that...my father should come too?" Alfred asked. It was still strange, referring to Ivory as his father. It would be natural soon, he figured. It just wasn't now because he'd spent 150 of his years without him.

"That may help us out a lot," Arthur told him. "Having him come with us. He was with them for quite some time...he would know about the system and how to get all of us in and out more easily than just charging in from in front."

So, that afternoon, Arthur went to Ivory to see if he could help at all with the rescue of Sadiq.

"They'll probably be holding him in the Dungeon," Ivory told them. "It's worse than even the advanced holding pens. It was reserved for the worst of the worst Hellcats, the ones who no matter what always tried to escape, or attacked scientists or handlers. Some of the cats that went there actually killed scientists or other Hellcats." Looking over at Arthur, his gaze softened a bit. "There they normally tortured them into submission or tried to break them. I have a feeling they'll be doing the same with him." The lynx let out a wail, and Alfred nudged him gently to keep him calm.

"You really care for this cat, don't you?" Ivory asked.

"Of course I do," Arthur murmured after he'd calmed down a bit. "He's like a son to me. I'd do anything to save him."

"Then I'll come with you and your party," Ivory told him. "To help you get your son back."

_It was one hundred and seventy years ago when Arthur got the biggest scare of his entire life._

_Naturally, when they reached fifteen years of age, the twins he'd been looking out for, named Sadiq and Kudret, had started their training. At first, everything went fine, until they hit a major growth spurt. Now, normally, Hellcats didn't have major growth spurts. They just kept steadily growing (or, in Arthur's case, grew to a certain size and stopped) until they were twenty years old. However, the cubs were only sixteen when suddenly, they started growing way too fast. Even Arthur knew something was wrong, and eventually he figured it out. When they were born, the scientists had injected them with some kind of formula that was supposed to make them stronger. All it had done was completely ruin their growth pattern and, in the case of Kudret, shattered his immune system. The cub was constantly getting sick, and both of them could hardly keep up with their training. The smallest things were starting to tire them, and their trainers didn't like it._

_One day, Sadiq's trainer pushed him too far, and Arthur found out the hard way what happened when he over-trained. The adolescent cat collapsed right in front of him, and of course, he did the only sensible thing and rushed him to the medical ward. There they found out that he'd suffered lung collapse and heart failure at the same time. They managed to save him, luckily, but the cat was forced to quit training. They also stopped doing testing on him, whereas normally they'd stop testing at twenty._

_His brother suffered a worse fate. While he too got a growth spurt, his immune system was permanently damaged. He was getting sick constantly, and eventually they found out that he'd contracted bone cancer._

"_It hurts every day," Kudret told Arthur when he came to visit him at the medical ward. "They won't give me anything to help with the pain...why do they want to hurt me, Papa?"_

"_I don't know," Arthur told him, gently stroking the kitten's soft hair. At a young age, Arthur had gotten the two of them different-colored masks, not just to tell them apart since they were so similar, but also to give them something of an identity. Normally, it shaded their eyes, but Kudret had his off, and Arthur could see all of the fear and pain reflected in his adopted son's eyes. "It will all end soon, don't worry. It will all be over." He'd thought that someone would at least have the sense to put the kitten out of his misery and put him to sleep, but the scientists didn't bother. They wanted to see how "his body reacted to the illness," basically meaning they just wanted to see him suffer._

_Since Arthur didn't have the heart to tell Sadiq his brother was going to die, the kitten went every day to see his ailing brother and to tell him stories about what was going on in school or what was happening with the other kittens. He told him about meeting Hercales and about being bonded, and Kudret listened._

"_I wish..." the kitten murmured one day to him. "That I could be bonded. That I could have someone who'd love me like that. But then I remember that all I need are you and Papa, and that you love me, and even if the scientists don't care about me, you do. And...that's all I need." __Every single day, Arthur could see the effects of the cancer taking over his body. Kudret was on his way out._

_One day, when Sadiq came to visit his brother, he was looking worse than ever._

"_It's getting hard to breathe," he told him. "My chest always hurts. It feels like someone's standing on it. And I feel sleepy."_

"_Then maybe you should go to sleep," Sadiq suggested. "You'll feel better when you wake up then. At least, that's what I do when I have trouble breathing."_

"_Okay," Kudret murmured, as his eyes started to close. "Sadiq...could you get me my mask off the table? I want to put it on before I go to sleep...it helps me dream of Papa..." Nodding, the younger cat took the red mask off of the table and put it around his brother's head._

"_Better?" he asked. A smile crossed Kudret's face._

"_Yeah. I...love you __kardeş..." he murmured, before he closed his eyes finally._

"_I love you too," Sadiq murmured back. Not moments later, he heard his brother's heartbeat disappear, and a few tears leaked out of his eyes._

_Somewhere, deep in his heart, he'd known that this day was coming._

CLOVER'S LONE ANGER

Although they expressed it in different ways, Hercales was just as angry as Arthur was. Hercales expressed his anger in staying pent up in his room and refusing to come out, for the fear that in his rage, he would end up hurting someone accidentally. Never before had he felt such rage than what he was feeling at the time. How _dare_ they, those scientist scum, those _dogs_ do something like that to his beloved Runner. How dare they play with Hercales like that, like he wouldn't do anything to try and get him back. If that's what they were thinking, they were sadly mistaken.

When Alfred came to him, asking him if he wanted to come on the mission to get Sadiq back, he immediately agreed.

"Of course I will," he said. "Nobody messes with my partner like that and expects that they can just get away with it."

"That's what I want to hear," Alfred grinned. "Come with me, the Leader wants to speak with everyone who's going."

Hercales went with Alfred to the main building, where Arthur had gathered the cats who were coming. The group included half of the cats who were currently at the estate, including most of the original sixteen (excluding Gilbert and Sadiq, of course).

"Here's the plan," Arthur was telling them. "Ivory is going to cause a distraction at the front of the Facility. Since most of it is burned down, we're going to go in through the gaps in the outer wall. There, you're going to spread out and quietly kill as many Loyals and scientists as you can. Try not to cause a lot of commotion. Hercales has already volunteered to go into the Dungeon. Alfred and I will lead him down there. The rest of you try to keep yourselves alive, alright?" After receiving meows and yowls of agreement from the rest of the cats, Arthur looked over at Alfred and Ivory. "Time to go, then."

Without any further interruptions, they moved out. They knew they would have to get there quickly, or else it may be too late. Alfred knew Arthur didn't want to think of this option...but it might already be too late.

RUNNER'S LONE TORTURE

When he was first kidnapped and taken here, he'd been knocked out and taken down to a place called the Dungeon. He'd heard stories of it, but nothing he'd heard could match up to what it was really like. There were chains on the walls, and blood and bodily fluids everywhere. Some of it looked fresh, which told him that before he and Hercales had attacked, there had to have been cats down here. They chained him up against the wall by his hands and neck, and had handcuffs around his ankles.

"You're finally awake," a voice said again, and Sadiq's head turned to address it. It was the same cat who'd kidnapped him, and he frowned.

"You," he hissed, before his head fell back against the wall. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days," Attilo replied nonchalantly. "And not a single sign of your little friends. How sad. Apparently they don't care about you after all..."

"That's not true!" Sadiq snarled, suddenly jerking his head up. It only went as far as the chain would go, so he couldn't move much, but that didn't stop him from looking intimidating. "My partner and my leader care for me more than anyone else in the world! They won't just let me die here...I know that to be true."

"You're so naive, it almost hurts me to do this," Attilo told him with mock sincerity as he pulled out a knife from his coat pocket. Leaning down, he crouched to Sadiq's eye level, before a sadistic smile crossed his face. "I'm going to hurt you in ways you could never imagine." The cat's ears flicked back against his skull, and his eyes widened as he looked up at Attilo fearfully.

He just hoped that everyone else would arrive soon, to save him from this maniac.

WINE and SHOTGUN

"So do you think his plan will work?" Ludwig asked Feliciano as they made their way towards the dreaded Facility.

"Well...none of his plans have never failed before," Feliciano pointed out. "I don't know why they'd start now. Besides, this one seems like it should work well as long as we all follow the instructions..."

For a moment, Ludwig was silent, before looking over at Feliciano. "Do you trust Ivory?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Feliciano replied. "On one hand, he was a scientist for a long time, working with the Facility and doing tests on his own kind. On the other hand, from what Silver told me, he was forced into it and was doing it only because he had to. And now that we know that he's Silver and Smile's father..." He went quiet. Where Alfred had quickly accepted Ivory as a father figure, Matthew hadn't. If anything, it made his attitude towards Ivory worse. He refused to talk to him, or even get near him. Obviously, it made Ivory very unhappy, but Alfred just told him that it was probably just Matthew's way of responding to the news. Maybe he didn't hate him. Maybe it was just a phase.

Or, perhaps, he hated him for a reason unknown to everyone else.

SMILE and JOKER

"Definitely not the same as I remember it," Francis grinned as they approached the Facility. Most of it was burnt down, thanks to Hercales and Sadiq's earlier attacks. There were big holes in the outer walls, and there weren't as many cats or dogs around, probably because a lot of them had been killed after they got trapped in their pens.

"I think it looks better now," Matthew grinned, and Francis let out a soft laugh, before going serious again. "So we'll go in through the back and just kill people? Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Yeah, and we're not supposed to die either," Francis added. "Which should be easy." For a second, he was quiet, before looking over at Matthew. "_Mathieu, _tell me, why do you hate your father?"

"I don't hate him," Matthew stated simply. "I'm just...angry at him. For not trying harder to protect us. From what he said it sounded like he was practically _begging_ for something to happen to us."

"You never know until you ask," Francis stated. "Besides, all it looks like now is that he just wants to be a father to you. You could give at least that to him, couldn't you?"

Matthew was quiet, before looking down at the ground. "I don't know."

GOLD, CLOVER, and SILVER

The strike had begun. While Ivory spoke to some professors on the outside, the cats had snuck in and begun to kill. They did it quietly, just like Arthur had told him, and they did it efficiently. As they snuck along, they could smell the scent of blood starting to get higher, but the sound of screaming was stifled. Obviously, those knives and silencers they gave them worked like magic.

Carefully, Arthur, Alfred, and Hercales went to a small building near the outer-edge of the property. There was a sign above it that read;

THE DUNGEON. TO FIX TROUBLESOME CATS.

"Fix troublesome cats...my ass," Arthur muttered, before turning to the other two. "This is it. Let's go." Opening the door, the trio walked in, looking around before seeing the trapdoor that obviously led to the main chamber. After walking down a few flights of stairs, they arrived at the concrete underground.

The smell was overwhelming. Years of little to no maintenance reflected on it, and the cats covered their sensitive noses. Blood and bodily fluids covered the walls. Arthur wondered if there were bodies down here before anything was removed after the fire. He could see what looked like burn marks on the walls, so obviously some of it had gotten down here or someone had deliberately burned a cat. He didn't want to think about something so terrible, however.

As they continued on, the focused on finding Sadiq. They didn't know if he was even down here yet, but they had to find out as quickly as possible. Ivory could only keep those scientists entertained for so long.

It wasn't long before they could hear what sounded like soft chirps* coming from one direction. For a moment, they were confused, because it sounded like a little bird, before Hercales's ears picked up and his eyes widened.

"That's him," he whispered to the others. "That's Sadiq. He used to do that to call for me whenever I was somewhere he wasn't. He's calling for us..."

"Do you think he even knows we're here?" Alfred whispered back.

"Maybe not, but we need to follow it," Hercales replied. "It'll lead us straight to him." And so, they followed the noises, before they could finally see him. Chained up against the wall, with his head leaning down as far as it could go, he looked more pitiful than he had that day when he'd collapsed at Arthur's feet. Blood was still running down his body, and Arthur knew why. Thanks to the scientist's big screw up, it took longer for his body to heal, and he could see that he'd been cut or stabbed by someone several times. There was no one around, so Arthur had no one to blame or kill, but he had a few ideas on who it was.

"Sadiq!" Hercales called after he'd seen that there were no guards. The cat ran over to him, and Sadiq's chirping abruptly ended as he looked over at his partner. A smile crossed his face and his tail twitched as Hercales ran over to him, one hand resting on the side of his face.

"You did come back," he murmured weakly, brown eyes shining under the shadows of his mask. "I told him you would...he didn't believe me..."

"Tell me who did this," Hercales told him, gingerly touching his arm, motioning to the cut wounds. "Who did this to you?" He started to work on the chains on Sadiq's wrists, easily pulling them apart with his hands. He didn't look like it, but Hercales was one of the more powerful cats, and was known to be able to bend metal with his bare hands.

"Attilo," he replied. "The lighter haired brother...he did this..." Looking over at Arthur, he grinned. "Please kill him for me, Papa. And make it painful, so he knows how to suffer."

"I'll make it as painful as you want it to be," Arthur told him, and Sadiq smiled, before his head fell back against the wall. After Hercales had taken off the rest of his chains, the long brown haired cat leaned forward and gently kissed him, before pulling back and taking him into his arms.

"Let's get out of here," he stated. "Before things start happening..." As soon as he said that, there was an explosion from the outside, and they all cringed. Something was going on above.

SCAR'S FIGHT

Up above, Jones, Attilo, and Sundita knew what was going on, and they knew that there was only one thing to do. They were going to destroy what was left of the Facility, trapping the Hellcats inside and killing them while they escaped. At least, that was the plan. However, plans don't always work like they're supposed to.

"They're controlling it from the control center," Elizaveta told Lilli. "I'm going to go stop them. Lilli, if the Leader calls a retreat, run out with Rodreich and Vash, okay?"

"But Eliza..." she murmured, and Elizaveta leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry about me. I can handle them." She gave Lilli's hair a loving stroke, before getting up and running off in the opposite direction, towards a large building. Running inside, she came to the main room, where Jones, Attilo, and Sundita were sitting.

"How nice of you to join us, Elizaveta Héderváry," Jones grinned evilly.

"We were just putting our plan in motion to kill you and all of your little friends," Attilo told her. For a moment, Sundita said nothing, before the red head stood and walked over to her.

"Nice to see you again, my pet," he grinned, reaching out a hand and touching the side of her face. "It's been a long time." Elizaveta looked absolutely horrified and disgusted when he touched her, and she gave him a punch to the face that sent him reeling backwards, holding his bleeding nose. "As feisty as ever I see!"

"I'm not your _pet_," she snarled. "And I never will be!"

Like he hadn't heard her statement, Sundita turned to Jones and Attilo. "Say, do you think maybe we could keep this one alive? She's a little trouble but I really do like her! She could certainly make a nice little maid with some training..."

Now completely enraged, Elizaveta threw herself at Sundita, snarling, knocking him over. Obviously, that hadn't been predicted as he fell backwards into the control panel, hitting a button. The explosions promptly stopped, and he hissed in displeasure, before throwing Elizaveta off. They looked like they were about to go at it again, before Elizaveta heard a yowl of retreat from outside.

"That's my leader," she growled, looking over at Sundita. "I won't kill you now, so think of yourself as lucky. The next time we meet, however...I'll kill you. Without pity."

"I look forward to that," Sundita grinned, and Elizaveta turned, before running out of the building.

GOLD and SILVER

After Sadiq had been taken to the temporary Healer's Den, Arthur sighed sadly and then fell to his knees, putting his face in his hands as he started to cry. At first Alfred was confused, before he sank down to Arthur's level, taking one of his hands and looking at him.

"What's wrong, Artie?" He asked him, using the special nickname only he could say to the Leader. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm a _failure_," he told Alfred. "As a leader and a father. I was the one who let him get kidnapped in the first place and...and...it was all my fault that he got hurt and now he'll have to heal so slowly and he's in pain and...it's all my fault..."

"That's not true," Alfred told him, moving his other hand away so he could see all of his face. "You're no failure. You're amazing, and I'm sure Sadiq thinks so too. I know that I think so. I could never do what you do every day." Leaning down, Alfred gave him a kiss, before pulling him into his arms, bridal style. "How about I cheer you up back at home?" The smile that Arthur gave him was the only answer to his question.

DOG and WOLF

"I heard about the mission," Gilbert stated when Ivan returned home. "And it looks like it was a success."

"It was," the Russian replied, sitting down on the couch and sighing. "Sadiq's recovering in the Healer's den, and nobody from our side got killed. Jones and the others tried to blow up the rest of the buildings to trap us inside and kill us, but Elizaveta stopped them."

"On her own?" Gilbert asked, before sitting beside Ivan and smiling. "I should have known. She'd certainly be able to. She's a good fighter...even though I beat her that one time..."

"You beat her in a fight?" Ivan asked as Gilbert leaned on his shoulder.

"Once," he replied. "It was my initiation fight, much like Alfred's. She wasn't as skilled as she is now, but I beat her pretty badly if I do say so myself. But those days are over, we don't fight like that anymore." He cuddled into Ivan's side and sighed happily. "I missed you while you were gone...will you come and lay down with me?"

"Why ask?" Ivan asked, stroking the snow leopard's soft hair. He was eager to hear more about their fight, but it could wait. If Gilbert wanted to tell him, he'd tell him. "You know I will. I would never say no to my _snezhnyĭ bars_."

[*chirping- Cheetahs, usually cubs, will make this noise to call out for their mother. The mother will usually respond with her own chirps. All cheetahs can do this, and it's actually kind of cute. Sometimes they will do it when distressed.

_*kardeş_- Turkish for brother]


	17. It's Time To Dine On Blood In Hell

**Chapter Sixteen**

** It's Time To Dine On Blood In Hell **

GOLD and SILVER

Normally, Arthur hated being touched. He didn't want anyone to touch him unless he specifically stated that he wanted them to, or it was himself who made the first move by touching the other person. Now, though, as he felt his lover's hands make their way across his bare chest, he never wanted to stop being touched.

"Al," he moaned, leaning up into his lover's grip. "You tease..." The blonde muttered, breath hitching as Alfred leaned down to nuzzle into his neck. Instinctively, he felt himself thrust his pelvis up to meet Alfred's, letting out another soft moan as the bigger cat pulled him close, sending soft kisses down his neck.

"I'm not teasing, just taking it slow, babe," Alfred purred, looking at him with his sky blue eyes. "Have you ever bottomed before, Artie?"

"No, not really," Arthur replied, wrapping his arms around Alfred's neck and shoulders. "I haven't had that much intercourse really, considering my job..."

Alfred's fingers brushed up against Arthur's lips, and he let out a little gasp. "I get it. If you're uncomfortable..."

"No," Arthur groaned, resting his chin on Alfred's bare shoulder. His already tight pants were getting tighter, and he curled his toes to keep the slight pain from causing him to get impatient. "I like it." His breath hitched again as Alfred leaned down, nipping at the eyepatch with his canines.

"I want to take it off," he told him, running a hand through Arthur's hair. "I want to see it. Your eye. It's beautiful." Arthur hesitated for a moment, his singular green eye clouded with doubt.

"If you want to," he finally replied. "It...can't do any harm..." A smile inched across Alfred's face as he undid the tie in the back, before letting the eyepatch fall from around Arthur's head. For a moment, he kept the eye closed, before finally opening it and staring up at Alfred with both eyes uncovered. Leaning down, Alfred pressed his lips to the other's, before reaching down around the waist of Arthur's jeans. Arthur gasped through the kiss, and Alfred slipped a finger down through the jeans, tracing along the hem of his underwear.

"Do you want it?" He breathed in the smaller's ear, and the throaty moan he let out was enough of an answer for him. With that, Alfred pulled down Arthur's jeans around his knees, and the blonde wriggled out of them, pushing them off of the side of the bed where their shirts and collars had been thrown not too earlier before. The bigger cat ran a hand over the bulge in Arthur's boxers, and the smaller cat whined softly. Slipping his hand down through the fabric, Alfred gripped his erection dead-on, and Arthur's eyes widened as he let out a loud squeak.

"Al-Alfred!" He gasped out, thrusting his hips up again. Alfred's thumb rubbed against the tip, running his palm down it. "God...Alfred..." He was cut off as the other brought his lips down on Arthur's again, tongue brushing against his teeth, asking for entrance. Arthur gladly parted his teeth, letting his rough, barbed tongue scrape against the roof of his mouth. Eventually, Alfred pulled the boxers off of Arthur's thin waist, abandoning them off of the edge of the bed where he'd previously discarded his jeans and shirt.

"Take yours off too," Arthur commanded, hands gripping around the waist of Alfred's jeans. Alfred moved his free hand to grip around one of Arthur's, and he grinned.

"Getting impatient?" He asked, and Arthur's face flushed deep red for a moment. Alfred let out a soft chuckle, before shifting a little. "You can take 'em off if you want." The other blonde didn't waste time as he pulled off Alfred's pants and boxers in one swift movement, tossing them off of the bed. Almost immediately, the bigger cat pushed Arthur up against the bed, covering his lips with rough kisses. Arthur let out a soft groan, gasping as Alfred ran his hands up the soft skin on his inner thighs, tracing a line up to his bare chest.

"Got any lube?" Alfred asked the smaller when he finally broke away, and Arthur shook his head.

"Never had any need," he muttered. "But it's alright, don't worry about it."

Alfred looked at him curiously. "You sure? It might hurt..."

"Nothing I can't deal with," Arthur cut him off. "Just do it." For a moment, Alfred hesitated, before carefully inserting himself into his lover. At first, Arthur let out a gasp, toes curling with slight pain and pleasure, before letting out a throaty groan. Wrapping his arms around Alfred's neck and shoulders, he let the bigger cat bury his face in the nape of his neck as he thrust in, rocking the smaller cat forward. Arthur bit his lip as the pain slightly increased, before fading and being replaced with pleasure.

"Am I hurting you?" Alfred asked between thrusts, and Arthur shook his head. With new reassurance from him, he went a little faster, producing low moans and groans from Arthur. His hands dug in to the sheets to keep his balance as he moved a little faster and harder, slowly bringing he and his partner closer towards the edge.

"Al," Arthur gasped out, eyes clouded with ecstasy. "I'm not gonna last much longer..."

"Neither am I," Alfred told him, the tightness and heat in his stomach increasing. Arthur let out a soft hiss as he came, panting into Alfred's ear as he rode out his orgasm, before Alfred too came, a low rumble sounding from his chest as he did. Moving to rest beside his tired and sweaty lover, the cat grinned, running a hand along the side of his face.

"You're amazing," he told him, and Arthur grinned, nuzzling into Alfred's chest. Both of his eyes had turned a comfortable green, and Alfred tilted his head. "Your eyes are green. Both of 'em."

"Mmm...that's what usually happens," Arthur told him drowsily. He let out a yawn, smiling at his lover. "And you're amazing, too." He ran his fingers through Alfred's slightly wiry ash blonde hair, eyes shining. "I love you, Al."

"Love you too, Artie," Alfred purred, leaning over to kiss him. Things were definitely getting better.

It was unfortunate, to say the least, that they wouldn't last.

DOG and WOLF

**Eight months, two weeks (34 weeks out of 40)**

It had been a little while since Sadiq was rescued, and tensions were beginning to mount. The Facility had been strangely quiet lately. No counter-attacks had been launched since the rescue mission. It might have seemed that the Facility had given up, stopped their attacks, but everyone knew it wasn't so. The spies had seen activity near the border, and they suspected that they were building a temporary base near the foot of the mountains that were close by to where the Facility once stood. The times were getting harder, and Gilbert's due date was drawing nearer.

"Ivan," he murmured one day, sitting on the couch, hand resting on his stomach. His eyes looked worried, and his partner sat next to him, ears twitching.

"What? Is something wrong?" He asked, worry tingeing his voice. "Do you feel okay?"

"I'm fine physically, it's just...what if...Feliciano wasn't right?" Gilbert asked, voice strained. "What if...something happens to us...our baby..." His grip on his shirt tightened as he bit his lip. "I'm scared."

Ivan was slightly shocked at his lover's display; he'd never seen him like that before. He did his best to smile, however, and pulled Gilbert close. "Oh, don't cry, _snezhnyĭ bars_, it's going to be alright," he murmured, stroking Gilbert's soft hair. "Nothing's going to happen to us. I'll make sure of that."

"But, what if...what if something happens to you? What if you're not there," Gilbert sniffed, on the verge of tears. "What if I have to do it all by myself?"

"You won't," Ivan promised, moving his hand down to grip Gilbert's. "I promise, I'll be with you every step of the way."

That promise would turn out to be harder to enforce than once believed.

GOLD and SILVER

"We've gotta do something."

Arthur acknowledged his partner's statement with a soft huff, tracing his finger along the side of his gun. As much as he almost hated to admit it, Alfred was right. The Facility was being way too quiet. Something wasn't right.

"Well what do you suggest we do? Send some spies up there to check it out?" Arthur asked. Surprisingly, Alfred shook his head.

"No. They're waiting for something. We should wait too." For a moment, Arthur was confused, before the words registered.

"Gilbert." Alfred nodded, and Arthur nervously messed with the tie of his eyepatch. Almost everyone in the gang was on edge; they knew exactly how important it was that his child was born safely. There was no doubt that all-out war would commence around that time. "So you're saying we should _wait_ for them?"

"Mhm," he replied, moving to sit on the floor beside Arthur. "We need to be rid of them in one big battle. These little skirmishes are getting us nowhere." For a moment, Arthur was silent, before falling on his back, letting the gun rest on his stomach.

"You do have a point," he stated, moving the gun to rest beside him so he could roll onto his stomach. "But I do hope you realize how dangerous that's going to be."

"It'll be less dangerous if we have a plan," Alfred stated, moving in close to Arthur. "Now, just be quiet and listen to me." Arthur looked like he was going to protest, but he surrendered and rested his head on his arms. "While everyone is battling, the higher-ranking cats and the cats from 1A will go to take out Jones, Attilo, and Sundita. With their leaders gone, the Loyals and the dogs will have no choice but to scramble. We will be safe, and they'll be disbanded permanently." Arthur was quiet, as though thinking it over, before moving and running his fingers through Alfred's wiry ash-blonde hair.

"You're smart, Silver," he told him, moving closer to press his forehead against his partner's. "I made a good choice in making you my Beta." Alfred gave a little laugh, leaning forward to press his lips to Arthur's, before pulling back.

"I get it from my dad."

**Meanwhile, back at the Facility's new headquarters...**

"We're gonna hit 'em hard," Jones called to his troops, who'd he'd assembled there below the mountain. "Kill _everyone._ Don't stop for _anyone_, except Alfred, Matthew, and Ivory. They are reserved for us." For a moment, he paused for emphasis, grinning down at the troops. "And a special reward will be waiting for the one who can bring me Arthur Kirkland's head." At his words, little spurts of chatter went up between the Loyals and the dogs, looks of excitement appearing on their faces. Holding up a hand for silence, they immediately turned their attention to Jones, who stroked his chin with one hand. "We attack in six weeks. Does anyone know why?"

"Isn't that the day that cub is supposed to be born?" One cat called out, and Jones nodded.

"Exactly. We can accomplish two goals at once." Looking over at Sundita, who sat behind him, Jones flashed a smile, and Sundita smiled back, showing his deadly metal teeth. Turning back to the troops, Jones addressed them. "In these six weeks, your training will increase tenfold. Don't expect to get very many breaks. We'll crush those cats, no matter what it takes." Clenching his fists, Jones laughed to himself.

_Believe me, Arthur Kirkland...you will rue the day that you decided to escape the Facility._

THE HELLCATS

**Six Weeks Later**

The battle atmosphere was beginning to settle over the Hellcats that day. The lookouts on the fringes of the border knew that the Facility was preparing to move out. The trainees had been trained to near exhaustion over the last six weeks, and the soldiers, too had also trained especially hard. They knew that the time was coming. It had become painfully obvious.

Pacing back and forth in front of the mansion, Arthur waited impatiently for the cats from 1A. The higher-ranking cats were already with him; Lilli was going to stay back with Gilbert, but the others were going, even Sadiq. The cheetah was practically exploding with excitement; it took a lot of coaxing from Hercales and Arthur to calm him down to a reasonable level.

"There you are," Arthur sighed, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Alfred had finally appeared with the cats from 1A, looking like they were ready for a fight. Lean, mean, alley cats, that's what they looked like now, nothing like the cats that they normally were. They had a fierceness in their eyes, a fire, like what had been there before they had escaped the Facility. Matthew wore a dangerous smile, shouldering his carbine with excitement. Even Feliciano wore the look of a killer, golden eyes narrowed, ears flat against his skull.

"We're ready," Alfred murmured to Arthur. From behind him, Ivan nervously ran a hand through his silver-gray hair, looking back at the mansion with worry. "You don't _have_ to come," the cat added to the Siberian tiger, who jumped slightly at his words, before relaxing.

"No, I want to," he replied. "To protect Gilbert. What use will I have staying behind when I could be fighting for the gang and him?" Alfred was silent for a moment, ears twitching, before turning to Arthur.

"They've been briefed on the plan," he told him. "I'll take Sundita, you'll take Attilo, and then we'll both take Jones together." Arthur nodded, and Alfred stepped up next to him. "Let's go."

Leading them and the rest of the troops out, they were met by Ivory, who ran up to Alfred and hugged him tightly. Alfred returned it, nuzzling into his father's reassuring hold. They didn't say anything; they really didn't have to. They both knew what they were risking. Pulling back, Ivory looked sorrowfully at Matthew, who turned his head at the display. Obviously, he still didn't accept him. Giving him a pat on the shoulder, Ivory grinned at Alfred.

"Make me proud, son," he told him, and Alfred grinned back.

DOG and FLOWER

Gently running a hand across his stomach, Gilbert sighed sadly, watching out the window as the troops moved out. He felt a little smile stretch across his face as he felt a strong kick, and he rubbed his stomach to keep his restless child calm.

"It feels bad, doesn't it?" Lilli asked from where she sat on the floor, drawing on a piece of paper. "Knowing that someone you love is going off to war. Not knowing if they'll come back alive." Her voice sounded sad, and she sighed, letting the pencil fall on the paper. "I wish I could fight. But big brother would never let me." She paused. "Elizaveta would never let me, either."

"At least you have the _option_," Gilbert whimpered miserably, leaning his head against the couch. "I have no options at all. Damnit," he hissed, wincing as he felt a jolt of pain. Lilli looked over at him with worry, tilting her head.

"Are you okay?" She asked, and Gilbert bit his lip, shaking his head.

"No," he replied, squeezing his red eyes shut tight. "I think...it's time..."

THE BATTLEFIELD

This was it.

Standing on one side, the Hellcats, all stone-faced and ready to fight. On the other, Jones's troops, battle-hungry and crazed with bloodlust. Looking over at Alfred, Arthur took his lover's hand, squeezing it gently. Alfred squeezed back in reassurance, smiling at him. Whatever happened, whether they won or lost, they would do it together. The wouldn't go down alone, and if they did go down, they would go down swinging.

With one last squeeze of reassurance, both cats looked forward. Both armies were waiting for something, just a bit of activation energy to get them started. Raising his gun, Alfred aimed into the crowd...

And fired the first shot to end everything.

**[Woot, finally, an update! Sorry it took so long guys. I've been busy, and I've been in trouble for quite some time xD But I'm back now! So please, enjoy one of the last chapters. Only two more after this guys!]**


	18. Even In Hell, There Is Life

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Even In Hell, There Is Life**

THE BATTLEFIELD

After that first shot, everything suddenly spiraled out of control. Both literal armies swarmed towards each other, teeth bared and claws out. Gunshots rang out, and Alfred searched for his target. _There._ He spotted the red-haired Sundita battling a young Trainee, and, snarling, Alfred launched himself onto the shifter. Unprepared, Sundita let out a yelp, before turning with a deadly growl and shaking the larger cat off. Spinning on his heel, Alfred quickly dodged the Irish-Indian's attack, being very careful to avoid his metal teeth.

"So, your leader sent you here to kill me, I suppose?" Sundita asked, and Alfred remained silent, eyes narrowing at him. "I take that as a yes. Well, kitten, I'm afraid that you won't be able to finish your mission." Baring his teeth, he ran at him and, catching the blonde by surprise, caught his shoulder with his teeth and pulled him down onto the ground. Writhing, Alfred tore himself from Sundita's grip, wincing as blood dripped down his back and chest. It would heal soon enough. Sundita licked viciously at the blood around his mouth, brown eyes gleaming with bloodlust and a need to kill. "You're very strong, kitten, but I'm stronger, it seems." Determined not to be outdone by this cold-blooded killer, Alfred let out a deadly snarl, before running behind the cat. His senses now fully aware, every part of him awake and functioning, he grabbed him from behind before Sundita could react, slamming him on the ground and fastening his teeth into his neck.

Writhing, the two wrestled for control on the ground, Sundita attempting to throw the bigger cat from his back, and Alfred trying to get a good hold on his throat. His claws tore into Sundita's sides, blood leaking out onto his fingers, staining his skin red. Sundita let out a pained yowl, before finally standing up and, with a mighty buck, finally throwing the bigger cat off of his back. Holding his sides, Sundita's eyes filled with a murderous rage, pupils small in pools of brown, snarling loudly. Alfred returned the snarl, eyes narrowed with the same need to kill that Sundita's had only a few moments ago.

"Alfred!" Alfred's ears flicked as he heard the familiar voice, and suddenly, Elizaveta jumped into view, one of her ears torn and bleeding. It was starting to heal, though, and she looked over at him, grinning. "Hey there."

"Why are you here?" He asked, pressing up against her. He wouldn't say it, but secretly, he was glad that she was there.

"To help you kill Sundita," she replied. The cat in question had become completely enraged, looking like he was simply going to explode in a few second's time. "You won't be able to do it alone, it's just not possible. So I'm coming to help you." Alfred looked like he was going to protest for a moment, before he stopped and nodded.

"Let's finish this." Noticing that their enemy had finally drawn his gun, Alfred and Elizaveta drew theirs as well. Elizaveta was the first to fire at him, and Sundita quickly dodged the bullets, firing back at them. For a while, no one got anywhere, before Alfred decided that now was the time to stop playing games. In one split second, he took a careful aim, before pulling the trigger. His bullet blew out Sundita's left kneecap, and the cat went down, looking surprised, like there was no way this was actually happening. Elizaveta, not missing a beat, moved in for the kill, pointing the gun at Sundita's head.

"Eliza," he started to say, looking up at her and shaking his head. "Don't do this, please..."

"How many times have I said that to you?" She snarled, eyes narrowed, scar making her look all that more frightening. "How many times have I asked you to please stop?" His eyes widened, and for a moment, Alfred saw regret flicker in the cat's eyes, before Elizaveta fired a shot into his skull. The dead shifter's body fell backwards, and Elizaveta crouched down beside him, closing his still-wide open eyes.

"_Jó éjt, örökre*_," she whispered, before standing up and looking over at Alfred. "Shall we see how Arthur is doing?"

Unfortunately, Arthur was not doing as well as they thought he would be. Apparently, Attilo was a tougher target than Sundita, and a better fighter. He and Arthur were almost equally matched. Locked in deep combat, the two were both shooting a hailstorm of bullets at each other. Not wanting to upset his focus, but knowing that he had to help, Alfred jumped down beside him from where he was positioned behind a rock.

"Alfred!" He called, ducking as he heard bullets whiz over his head. Alfred ducked down as well, smiling at his lover. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you," Alfred replied, before leaning around the rock and firing at Attilo. Obviously unprepared, Attilo winced as a bullet grazed his side. He wasn't ready to fight _two_ assailants.

"Don't you think that's a little unfair?" The Italian yelled from where he stood, firing at the rock. "Two against one?"

"How about two against one-hundred?" Alfred snarled back. "You can't talk about unfair, you two-faced son of a bitch!" He fired a few more shots at him as Arthur did, causing the Italian to suddenly fall to the ground as bullets whizzed over him. The sound that ripped from Attilo's throat when he rose was inhuman, a noise that could only be made by a very angry dog.

"You'll be sorry that you ever insulted my mother, cat," he snarled, eyes crazed with anger and bloodlust. They held the same gleam that Sundita's did only a few minutes ago, but this time, there was something more about it, something deeper inside of them. A shockwave of fear passed through Alfred as Attilo approached the rock they were hiding behind at a dangerous speed, and he knew that Attilo planned to uphold what he'd just said. Despite Alfred and Arthur's simultaneous firing, the crazed dog kept coming. His hyper-attention was helping him to dodge the bullets, and finally, he was close enough to ram his fist as hard as he could into the rock.

For a moment, time seemed to stop, as the rock quaked before cracking in half. Both sides fell with a thump to the ground, and a smile crossed Attilo's face. Now he could get at them. The cocky bastard dropped his gun, taking out his knife instead. Alfred heard Arthur gasp as the gun in his hands jammed, refusing to fire. Before he could think, Alfred threw himself over Arthur, shielding him from Attilo. If anyone was dying tonight, it wouldn't be the Leader. His own gun had gotten trapped under one half of the rock when it fell, so he too was unarmed. Attilo had all of the cards in his hand. Laughing like a madman, he lunged towards Alfred, and a scream ran out;

"_ALFRED!_", and then a figure jumped in front of him, the knife tearing up through his stomach and chest.

DOG and FLOWER

Gilbert moaned pitifully as Lilli carefully placed the wet, cold washrag on his forehead in hopes of lowering the fever that had sprung up not too long after his water broke. So far, his labor wasn't going very well, and the shifter was in a lot of pain. His hands gripped the sheets as another contraction passed through him, and he whimpered.

"Ivan," he murmured, looking up at Lilli with feverish red eyes. "Where's...Ivan?"

"They're not finished fighting yet, Gilbert," she replied sadly, her eyes filled with almost pity and sadness. "He's not here..."

"He has to be here soon," Gilbert whimpered, flinching again as a particularly painful contraction tore through him. "He promised..."

"I know, Gilbert, I know," she murmured, drizzling a little bit of water over the rag on Gilbert's forehead. "He'll be here, I'm sure, it's going to be okay..."

THE BATTLEFIELD

It took a moment for the whole thing to make sense to Alfred, but finally when he saw the body fall he realized. Attilo seemed to realize too, for the knife dropped from his hand and he took a step back.

"_Dad!_" He finally screamed, falling to his knees beside Ivory. The ex-scientist coughed and sputtered, blood leaking from his mouth. It didn't take much to see that this wound was fatal. "Oh no, God no, Dad please..." It was the first time he'd ever heard that word, _Dad_ come from his mouth, and yet here it was, in the worst of possible situations.

"Hey, buddy," Ivory coughed, looking up at Alfred with pained blue-green eyes. "You should...be more careful...I won't always...be here to save you..."

"Don't talk like that," Alfred told him, wiping the dusky brown hair from his face. "Don't say that, you're not dying, Dad, it's alright, please—" He was cut off as Ivory's hand reached up to touch his face, and Alfred took his hand, trying so desperately to hold the tears back that were threatening to spill over.

"I love you, Alfred," he barely whispered now, and Alfred saw the life rapidly draining from his father's eyes, just like the blood that was pooling onto the ground. "So I'm...going to be honest...don't lie to yourself..." Alfred sniffed and bit his lip, but he nodded. There was no need to lie about what was happening now. "Look at me, buddy," Ivory spoke again, and Alfred's sky blue eyes met Ivory's, and he saw a smile cross his face. "You have your Mama's smile, you know that? Just like her..." His eyes finally closed, but the smile was still on his face. Alfred finally let the tears fall onto his father's cooling cheeks, before he stood and faced Attilo.

He had started laughing like a maniac again, eyes wide with pupils small in a sea of dark green. A crazed smile was plastered to his face, and he staggered a little, as if drunk.

"I killed Ivory Jones," he giggled, looking down at his bloodied knife. "I...killed...Ivory...Jones!" He continued to giggle, and suddenly Alfred was full of rage, of blood-boiling rage.

"Shut up, you fucking lunatic!" He snarled, moving from his father's body and throwing a punch at Attilo's face. It caught him square in the jaw, and the dog fell over, unprepared. "That was my father, you bastard!"

"That's what you get, silly kitten!" He laughed as his jaw snapped back into place. "I took your Daddy from you! How does it _feeeeeel_?" He made sure to draw out the last word, and Alfred let out an enraged roar before throwing himself onto him. Reeling back, he gave him another punch to the face, and this time snapped his nose.

"Fuck you," he snarled, his normally mellow eyes filled with burning anger. "Fuck you and your damn Facility!" He hit him again with each rage filled word, fists hitting his face with increased ferocity each time. "If it weren't for you, my father would still be alive!" In his blind rage, he barely noticed when he finally heard a vicious snap, and, pulling back his bloodied fists, noticed that Attilo was no longer healing, nor was he breathing. Panting heavily, he looked up, and noticed that Arthur was staring wide-eyed in his direction. Moving from the dead dog's body, he looked at his hands and let out a heavy, shaky sigh, before walking over to Arthur and falling on his knees.

"Artie..." he murmured, and Arthur just nodded, pulling him close. He could only whisper encouragingly as the shifter let loose, sobbing and hugging him so tightly he thought that his ribs might snap. When he finally calmed down, Alfred looked back over at the body of his father. Heaving himself up, he walked over and curled up beside his body, gently resting his head on Ivory's side.

"Alfred...we need to find Jones," he murmured, walking over to him. "We just need to kill Jones, and all of this will be over, okay? Just one more person."

"My father is dead," Alfred whispered, shaking slightly. "My father is dead. Because of me."

"Alfred, we need to find Jones," he stated again, and for a moment, the other was silent, before he got to his feet.

"Let's kill Jones," he murmured, and a smile spread across Arthur's face.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

It didn't take long for them to find him. With help from some other Soldiers, they found Jones, sitting up on a ledge and surveying the scene below him.

"Hello, _Jones_," Arthur greeted him, voice dripping with hatred and loathing. The Italian turned to face him, a crude smile etching its way across his face.

"Ah, what a pleasure to see you, Mister Kirkland," he replied, tail slowly swishing back and forth. Alfred had never noticed it before, but he guessed that it'd always been there; now, it just seemed to be more noticeable. He began to pace back and forth in front of him, his body relaxed and calm. "And you, Alfred, you seem to have gotten into a bit of a scrabble." He motioned to the blood coloring his forearms and chest, and a grin tugged at Alfred's mouth.

"Yeah? Well I wouldn't be so cool about it if I knew whose blood it was," he replied, a bit cockily. Jones raised an eyebrow.

"Sundita? I already found him. He means absolutely nothing to me." Jones muttered, flicking his wrist. The grin widened on Alfred's face.

"Nope. Guess again." For a moment, they both were silent, before the cool look on Jones's face disappeared.

"No...no it can't be...you couldn't have...Attilo..." Immediately, he could see that Jones did not expect this to happen.

"Your brother's own insanity, his one key weapon, ended him," Arthur murmured, now the one who was pacing back and forth. "And what about you, Jones? Your key weapon has, and always was, me. Wasn't it." Jones shuffled in his place, and Arthur grinned. "You want what I have, don't you, Jones?" The dog's lips curled a little, and Arthur laughed, before throwing off his eyepatch, letting it flutter to the ground as he stared at Jones with both of his eyes uncovered. "Then come and get it."

"With pleasure," Jones snarled, as he threw himself at Arthur. The two wrestled on the ground, both trying to gain control of the other, tumbling down the side of the ledge and rolling to the ground. Abruptly, all of the other fighting stopped as they focused on the two leaders. Everything came down to this. Only one could come out alive. Whichever one came out, Jones or Arthur, would determine who was the winner of this epic battle. The terrible sound of claws ripping through flesh, yowling, howling, snarling, hissing and growling could be heard in the eerie silence that came from the other members. Alfred watched carefully in the sidelines, knowing that he could, if needed, join in this attack. For a moment, they almost looked like one body, before finally they both broke away, snarling and growling. Blood dripped down both of their tense bodies, and they circled each other, hair on edge, tails lashing.

Finally, the two of them went at it again, still scrabbling for control. Just when it seemed that nothing was going to change, or that any of them were going to take control, Jones let out a snarl and, with a mighty whack, sent the smaller cat skidding across the clearing and into the bottom of the ledge they were previously standing on, knocking him out cold. Giving a soft, dark laugh, Jones made his way towards the downed shifter, obviously moving in for the kill. Thinking fast, Alfred jumped at the shifter almost blindly, grabbing him around the neck and pulling him back. This proved to be more difficult than he originally thought; Jones was very tall and big, not at all easy to pin down. Snarling, Jones turned, throwing Alfred off.

"I guess I might as well go ahead and kill you then, huh?" He asked, lips curled back in a frightening sneer. "Avenge my poor brother."

"_Your_ poor brother?" Alfred hissed, ears pinned flat against his skull. "Don't worry, Jones, you'll be with _your poor brother_ in Hell soon." Both cats let out deathly snarls as they leaped at each other, snapping and snarling and lashing out, but neither one of them seemed to be landing a hit. Suddenly, Alfred remembered something; that first time he'd pinned Arthur, where he'd hit him in the lower leg. If he could hit Jones there, he could get him on the ground and keep him there. Thinking fast, he moved behind Jones, and for a moment, the Italian looked confused, before Alfred moved down and hit him hard in the leg. Letting out a howl, he fell to the ground, legs trembling as Alfred stood triumphantly above him.

"Looks like the mouse has defeated the scientist," he murmured, grinning, and Jones looked at him with furious, yet terrified eyes. Just as he was opening his mouth, Arthur strode over, apparently awake now from his moment of unconsciousness.

"So, Jones," he started to say, slamming his foot down hard on the dog's back, making him howl again. The dogs and the Loyals were starting to back away from the circle that had formed around the authoritative figures, tails slowly going between their legs. "What are we going to do with you now?"

"You're going to kill me," Jones replied, looking up at Arthur. For a moment, the blonde was silent, before he looked Jones straight in the eye, the pupil in his red eye now widening. Jones let out a scream like he'd been burned, writhing in pain under Arthur's foot. "Stop it! Damnit, stop, stop _please_!" The pain was unimaginable, and finally Arthur blinked, breaking the gaze. His pupil returned to its pinprick state, and Jones gasped, breathing heavily.

"No Jones, I don't think that's what we're going to do at all," Alfred answered, crossing his arms. "You don't deserve death. It'd be too easy. Why don't we do exactly what you've done to us? Torture, experiments, all of that. I think it's about time you knew what it was like." The Hellcats yowled in agreement. The Loyals and the dogs were all but gone now. Jones gulped heavily, fear in his wide eyes. Arthur motioned for Ludwig and Hercales, who stood in the circle, to grab the ex-scientist. Heaving him up by his arms, the dog shakily stood on his legs. Arthur's gaze was stone cold, as was Alfred's. Finally, they had Jones.

Just when it seemed like everything was going as planned, however, the dog grinned and suddenly, somehow managed to flip over backwards, wrenching himself out of their grip. Immediately, he turned and bolted towards the edge of the ravine, and Alfred went to follow him. No, no he was _not_ going to let this bastard get away, no, no... Turning, Jones smiled and waved, before falling with his arms spread off the side of the ledge. Alfred skidded to the side, watching as Jones's body got smaller and smaller, before it hit the dirt with a sickening crack that echoed through the clearing.

Finally, it was over. Victor Jones would hurt no more people.

After the battle was finally over, Alfred and Arthur took time to examine the wounded. The first cat Arthur went to see was, naturally, Sadiq, who was being tended to by Elizaveta.

"I'm gonna have a scar," he grinned, pointing to his face. Indeed, there was a long claw mark going down his forehead and across his face. His mask was scratched as well. "That's _awesome_." Arthur just laughed and ruffled his hair, but Alfred could see that there was pain in his smile. The other Hellcats had healed by now, and Matthew ran up to Alfred, eyes gleaming.

"I must've killed fifty of 'em, it was great," he grinned, and Alfred hugged him tight. When he pulled away, Matthew looked around. "Hey Alfred where's...um...where's Ivory? I think it's about time I...told him something." It was then that Alfred remembered, and, with a pained twinge in his chest, he looked at Matthew with sad eyes. Turning his head, he motioned back towards the clearing where their father's body lied still. At first, Matthew approached tentatively, like he couldn't believe that it was really Ivory lying there. After a few moments, the cat gave a wail and fell beside him, nuzzling into his neck as he cried.

"Alfred..." Kiku started to say, looking at him with almost pitiful brown eyes, and Alfred growled.

"Don't you dare say it." The smaller cat backed off, and Alfred looked at Matthew with a sad gaze.

Around them, the assembled Hellcats all bowed their heads in respect for the lost ex-scientist. Even though some were still weary of him, he'd helped them out a lot. If it weren't for him...they might've lost. Alfred would have died for sure. Ivory had sacrificed his life for the only thing he had left, and that in and of itself was a noble way to go.

For a while, all was silent, before Alfred heard a voice.

"It looks like I haven't upheld my promise very well, have I?" It was female, and Alfred whipped around suddenly to see where it was coming from.

A light had descended upon the clearing, and a beautiful white and gold she-cat was walking from the beam of light, huge wings open. She soared down to rest beside Matthew and Ivory, and Feliciano came forward suddenly.

"Maria?" He asked, and she nodded, gray eyes glittering. Matthew raised his head at her name, and she smiled over at him. Alfred's eyes widened as the she-cat turned into her human form, and now he saw it. She did look a lot like Mattie; same hair, same curl, same body shape, except for her eyes and lack of glasses, she could've been him.

"I have broke my promise, Feliciano," she told him sadly. "I failed to protect all of you." She looked down at Ivory's body, gently stroking his dusky brown hair. "So I am here to repair it." Leaning down, she touched the wound that had killed him, and a gentle golden glow came from her fingertips. The blood began to recede back into his body like normal, the cut healing. Alfred couldn't believe what he was seeing; was she really bringing him back to life?

"Mom?" He finally spoke, and she looked at Alfred, smiling wide. "But I thought...you can't..."

"Raise the dead? Only when one wishes it. Feliciano's wish was that all of you would come out safely, all of those connected to the secret I had him carry, and that included Ivory. Thanks to this, I was able to save him." After the wound had healed, she turned and gently hugged Matthew, who hugged her back.

"I'm sad that I never got to know you, Matthew," she told him. "But I've watched you. You're a very talented boy." Matthew looked away in embarrassment; he wasn't very used to receiving praise. Turning, she walked towards Alfred and hugged him as well, and Alfred tightly hugged her back. "Alfred...you are truly an amazing cat," she murmured, and Alfred smiled into her shoulder. Pulling away from him, she smiled over at Arthur, who could only manage to wave back. "Rikki says hello." For a moment, he was still, before a smile broke across his face. Finally, the she-cat gave one last smile, before turning back into a cat and trotting back up the corridor of light, into the soft white clouds in the pale blue sky.

AT HOME

The next morning, on November 24th, Thanksgiving day of that year, the son of Gilbert and Ivan was finally born. The child that represented their new era, the turning of a new leaf, had finally arrived.

"He's beautiful," Ivan remarked when he first saw him after he was born, nestled safely in his mother's arms. He had white hair, just like him, and he bet that when his eyes opened, they'd be bright red like his mother's. "Just like you, Gilbert."

"He is, isn't he?" The cat yawned, obviously exhausted from his endeavors. The newborn yawned as well, cuddling into his mother's warmth, and Gilbert gave a small laugh. "Our little Nikolas..."

Standing by the door, Alfred and Arthur both watched the new family, and Alfred turned towards his mate.

"Hey Arthur, do you think now that the Facility and the Loyals are gone, maybe we..." He trailed off as Arthur leaned his head against his chest, grinning. It told him everything he needed to know, and he smiled, wrapping his arms around Arthur's shoulders and looking out of the window as the sun rose over the horizon.

[*Good night, forever.

**So that's almost it guys! Only the epilogue and this story is over!**]


	19. Epilogue: Gold and Silver

Epilogue

Gold and Silver

It had been six months since the final battle, and finally, everything was back to normal. The gang had relocated to the mountains, where they found their new city awaiting them (no doubt the work of Maria). There they were now, safely tucked away in the rocky caress of the mountains, where they could safely return to life. Ivory had decided to return to Raven, Alfred and Matthew's foster mother, and bring her to live with him on his estate. Rumor had it that she was pregnant, but nothing had been "confirmed" yet.

"Silver! Silver!" Alfred turned as he heard a chorus of young voices behind him, and the group of three kittens who'd been following him slowed to a stop. They bowed respectively, and Alfred nodded at them. Giggling, a little red-haired girl with wide glasses stepped up.

"Are the stories really true?" She asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Did you really defeat Attilo _and_ Jones singlehandedly?"

"And fought Sundita with Scar and win?" The second, a black-haired boy asked with excitement in his voice. Laughing a little, Alfred sat in front of them, admiring the kittens with bright eyes.

"I wouldn't say I did it singlehandedly," he replied, answering the first's question. "I was with the Leader, you know." They let out a collective "ooh", and Alfred's grin widened.

"Is it true that you saved the Leader from death when you were just a Trainee?" The boy asked again, and Alfred nodded.

"And that you were his second partner and beta after ten years?" The girl asked, and Alfred nodded yet again. Looking over at the third kitten, a shy cinnamon brown haired boy, Alfred moved closer to him, nudging him gently.

"You okay kid?" He asked, and the boy gasped and turned his head.

"Y-yes I'm fine...It's just I don't think I can talk to you..." The boy's dark blue eyes were downturned, and Alfred nudged him gain.

"Anyone can talk to me. What's your name?" The other two gasped.

"He asked for his _name_," the girl whispered in awe, and the black-haired boy giggled.

"Ignazio," he replied, drawing a circle in the dirt with his finger. "Ignazio Jones. Attilo Jones was my father. My Mum was a Loyal but a Hellcat took me in. I'm a half-breed." The little boy looked up at him. "My Dad was a bad guy, and you killed him. I didn't think you would like me." Alfred was quiet for a moment, before pulling the little boy close.

"It doesn't matter who your parents were, Ignazio," he told him, and the boy looked at him in awe. "It doesn't matter what your parents did, it was their own fault. You can be whatever you want to be, and I don't hate you because of who your parents are. I don't hate you at all." A smile lit up the boy's face, and Alfred let him go. "It doesn't matter that you're a half-breed, you're a Hellcat at heart."

"Silver!" A voice called, and Alfred turned. Arthur stood there, looking over at him. His eyepatch was back in place now (he only wore it to "look tough", he said), and his one visible eye was gleaming. "Come on, you wanna go see Nikolas?" The second nodded, ruffling the little boy's hair, before bounding after him.

"Better watch out with this one, he's going to be handsome," Francis was saying affectionately as he sat with the little one on his lap, admiring the silver buttons on his coat. Nikolas was, indeed the splitting image of his mother, with his white hair and red eyes. His ears and tail suggested, however, that his form would be a tiger, and that pleased Ivan greatly.

"He's cute," Alfred grinned, watching as the boy grew bored of Francis and reached for Elizaveta, who looked skeptical. Nikolas cooed and looked at her with his wide, kittenish red eyes, and Elizaveta sighed before taking him.

"I hate kids," she muttered, but Alfred saw the smile light up her face as Nikolas clung to her, cuddling close to her chest.

**-Meanwhile...in a place where the Facility used to stand...-**

The group of mourners gathered around Sundita's grave slowly bowed their heads. Their great leader was lost. What in the world could they do now? Who was going to help them?

"Do not be afraid!" A voice called out, and they all turned. Walking towards them was a red-haired Irish-Indian, much like Sundita, yet not like Sundita. His eyes were black, and instead of metal teeth, his hands were made out of metal. Grinning, the cat showed off his devilish fangs.

"It is I, Sundara, and I have come to lead you."

**-Meanwhile...back in the mountains...-**

Not too long after, Arthur made his way to his usual perch, a place near the top of the mountain where he could gaze out across the city and the lands below. Sitting next to him, Alfred smiled, and Arthur rested his head on his shoulder. Alfred rubbed gently at the silver wedding band on his finger, before taking Arthur's hand and tracing his finger around the gold one.

"Gold," he murmured, smiling as he pressed his forehead against Arthur's. Arthur smiled back.

"Silver," he murmured back, leaning forward to kiss him. Soft and passionate, the two stayed intertwined for a while, curled up so close they could have been one.

And it was there, they stayed, watching as the day came to a close, the sun slowly setting over the horizon.

_**Transmission end. Story end.**_

_****_[Well guys, that's the end! Thanks for following this story and look out for the sequel~]


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